


Winter Dragon

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Gratsu [27]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Apologies, Arguing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Drama, Forgiveness, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Injury, M/M, Making Up, Rivalry, Serious Injuries, Snow, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 08:59:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16699441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: An argument turns a fun day in the snow into a disaster, but through it Gray and Natsu find themselves coming to a closer understanding of one another.





	1. Part: I

   Erza sighed, her eyebrows twitching in annoyance as she heard the all too familiar sound of Natsu and Grays’ voices being raised across the guild hall and before she even had a chance to get to her feet there was a deafening bang as their yelling swiftly gave way to fighting. Within seconds she was striding across the Guildhall, her magic lighting up the air as she summoned forth a practice sword, ignoring the adults who were quickly moving out of her way as she descended on the two boys with righteous fury.

“Will you two stop fighting?” She growled as she sprang into the fray, her practice sword flying through the air and within seconds both boys were lying poleaxed on the floor, their expressions one of terror as they stared up at her. “Honestly I’m getting tired of the pair of you,” she snapped even as they began to babble apologies. Unable to understand why the pair of them couldn’t go more than an hour or so without beginning to squabble and wishing that their Master would take them properly in hand before it was too late. Honestly, they caused enough damage now, she didn’t want to imagine what they might be like when they got older and stronger.

“Like you’re one to talk.” The drawling voice immediately raised her hackles, and she whirled around her sword at the ready, eyes narrowing as she found Mirajane leaning casually against a nearby table, mischief glittering in her blue eyes. “Using violence to get them to behave isn’t really setting them a proper example, is it?”

“It’s better than the example you set dressing like that!” Erza spat before she could stop herself, fighting the urge to blush as she realised that she was just proving the other girl’s point. The mocking laugh that rang out a second later had her gritting her teeth in anger, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her sword. “You’re only saying that because you couldn’t pull off this outfit,” Mira teased with a wide grin as she ran her gaze over the other girl, letting her eyes linger on Erza’s chest for a moment to emphasise her point. “You’re still too much of a kid.” Erza saw red at that last comment and before she could even think about what she was doing she was charging at the Take-over mage, a snarl tearing itself free as she brought her sword down only to be flung backwards with a flash of purple magic.

**

   Lisanna sighed as she watched her sister and Erza go at each other yet again, wishing desperately that the pair could find something that they both liked just so that they could get on a bit better. Ideally, she would like them to stop fighting completely, but she wasn’t foolish enough to hold out for that just yet. It didn’t help that Natsu and Gray were sat to the side cheering both girls on alternately, clearly fascinated by the sight of Erza going all out as long as they weren’t her target and she realised that she wasn’t going to get any help from them.

   With a frown on her face, she moved away from the group, wincing as there was a loud clatter from behind her although she refused to turn around and look, the annoyed shout from her sister was enough to let her know that it had hadn’t gone her way. Almost absent-mindedly she wandered across to the window, wondering if there was enough time to go and play outside before it would get dark, but instead to her surprise, she found that the weather had taken a wintery turn and a broad grin spread across her face.

“It’s snowing!” She shouted with excitement as she took in the heavy shower of white falling from the sky, practically bouncing up and down as she realised that there was quite a lot that had settled already. Her cry had cut across the battle, and both of the warring girls paused in surprise and taking advantage of their distraction she immediately turned to shoot pleading looks at her older siblings who both knew how much she loved playing in the snow.

“Shall we call a ceasefire for now?” Mira called turning to look at Erza, unable to resist her sister’s pleading expression and after a moment’s consideration the red-head nodded, and her swords disappeared in a flash.

“We should all go outside,” Cana suggested brightly as she bounded up to them now that there was no longer any risk of getting caught up in their battle, and her suggestion was quickly met with agreement all around.

   It was amazing how quickly the mood in the guild had changed with Lisanna’s news, the various fights were forgotten with a speed that startled the adults as the younger members hurried around dressing for the weather. Apart from Gray of course who was bouncing on the balls of both feet with glee, and had already managed to lose the coat that Erza had forced on him and was halfway through yanking off his shirt without even realising what he was doing. And it was only a matter of minutes before they were all piling towards the door, barely heeding the shouted warnings from the various older mages scattered around the hall. “Come on Natsu,” Lisanna encouraged when she realised her pink-haired friend was hanging back, his gaze fixated hesitantly on the window as he watched the snow coming down outside. Worried by his odd expression, she bounded across to him and grabbed his hand, smiling widely when he turned to look at her with a startled look on his eyes.

“Come on,” she repeated, and he allowed himself to be pulled along by his enthusiastic friend, despite the uncertainty still lingering in his eyes.

**

   Natsu came to an abrupt halt as they reached the bottom of the stairs, gently pulling free of Lisanna who was too excited to notice as she bounded forward to join in the snowball fight that had broken out between her siblings and the other kids. Smiling slightly at her enthusiasm Natsu turned his attention to the snow that was building up on the ground, crouching down to poke at it curiously, his expression darkening slightly as the pretty material vanished instantly beneath his touch and he hastily snatched his hands back before the others could see what had happened.

   With a frown he settled on the steps, watching the snowball fight with curiosity and longing in his eyes whenever one of the others would call to him, but every time he just shook his head in response. Knowing that if a simple poke was enough to melt the snow, there was no way that he would be able to make snowballs, let alone hold them together long enough to throw them and he let out a dispirited sigh as he glanced down at the snow. It was falling more heavily now, and the layer on the ground was building up, and it was hard to resist the urge to go and play in it. Living with Igneel had given him no opportunity to play with snow, as the heat the fire dragon let off melted it before it could land, but he didn’t want to risk spoiling it for the others.

   He was startled out of his thoughts a moment later when someone tapped him lightly on the head, and he nearly leapt out of his skin as he whirled around to find Erza standing next to him, studying him with a hint of concern in her eyes. Blinking he realised that the sounds of the snowball fight had disappeared, and looking around he was stunned to realise that the group had split into smaller teams and were working hard to gather up snow.

“What?”

“We’re having a snowman competition!” Cana called to him with a cheerful grin, before turning back to chivy Gray into working faster. Natsu’s hands clenched in his lap, the longing to join in growing ever stronger as he watched Mirajane laughingly trip her brother up so that he landed in the pile of snow they had gathered, smiling slightly as the other boy spluttered before clumsily climbing back to his feet.

“Honestly someone would think you’ve never played in the snow before,” Erza said impatiently as he continued to glance around wide-eyed at their diligent work as they gathered the snow up into large balls and he blushed slightly before hanging his head. “Go and help Lisanna! She wants to be on a team with you!” She ordered before heading off to help Cana with the base for their snowman, and Natsu reluctantly obeyed knowing that he would feel her sword if he didn’t.

   Lisanna welcomed him with a broad grin, seemingly unaware of the uncertainty lingering in his eyes, and he listened with half an ear as she chattered away about what she wanted to build. He had never seen his best friend look so excited, and it only served to increase his panic about what might happen if he tried to help…especially as he glanced back and saw that the path he had taken was clearly marked by melted footprints. Biting his lip, he tried to hang back as she went back to gathering snow.

“Natsu help me!” She pouted turning to look at him when she realised that he hadn’t moved to help, rising to her feet and glaring at him when he continued to hesitate.

“But!”

“Come on I want to beat Mira-nee and Elf-nii,” She begged turning puppy-dog eyes on him, and he felt his resolve beginning to waver, but then a mischievous smile flickered across her face as she added enticingly. “And I’m sure you want to beat Erza and Gray!” His eyes narrowed, and he glanced across at where Cana, Erza and Gray were busy working away on their snowman, the challenge igniting his usual enthusiasm especially when he realised that the Ice mage was cleverly using his ice magic to speed their project along.

“Alright,” he replied with a nod turning back to Lisanna, who grinned happily as she realised her argument had worked. “Let’s do this!”

“Can you finish shaping the body while I make the head?” She asked bouncing on the balls of her feet she pointed at the largish ball she had already gathered, pouting slightly as she realised that it was smaller than the others, but realising it would have to do. Nervously Natsu nodded before moving to obey, and trusting him completely she turned away to begin to scoop up more snow to make a head from.

    The moment he had touched the side of the snowman’s body Natsu had realised that he should have stuck to his original plan to just watch, eyes widening as the snow began to disappear before his eyes and with a horrified shout he sprang backwards immediately attracting Lisanna’s attention, and she darted back to his side.

“You melted it!” Lisanna cried out in horror as she stared at the rapidly vanishing remains of her would-be snowman and Natsu backed away in alarm as he saw her bottom lip beginning to tremble, her blue eyes moist as she turned to look at him with accusing eyes.

“I didn’t mean to…” He began desperately hating to see that look in her eyes and wishing that he had never set foot outside or allowed himself to be dragged into this.

“Natsu what did you do?!” Mira’s angry voice in his ear made him leap a foot in the air, and he stepped aside as she brushed past him to reach Lisanna, laying a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder and promising to help her rebuild it as she also surveyed the melted effort for a moment before turning to glower at Natsu. “Why would you do this? Didn’t you realise how excited she was about this?”

“I…”

“Natsu,” he froze at the dark voice, paling as he realised that the rest of the group had gathered around and he shifted nervously as he realised that Erza was towering over him with a fierce scowl on her face as she glanced between him and Lisanna and the melting snowman. “What were you thinking?”

“I…” Natsu began again, swallowing hard as all eyes fell on him before trying again to explain. “It was an accident. I didn’t…” _This is why I was sitting out. This was why I was just watching, and then you made me try and take part_! He wanted to shout at her, but he knew that would help the situation, besides he had been the one who’d given in to the temptation to try and help Lisanna despite having a pretty good idea of what would have if he did.

“Go away Natsu! You’re ruining it for the rest of us!” Gray snapped angrily at the Dragon-Slayer who froze at the harsh edge to the Ice Mage’s voice, his eyes widening with hurt and confusion as he met dark onyx eyes. It had been an accident, surely they realised that? He could at least watch from the side-lines…couldn’t he?

“I…” Natsu began weakly, halting as he realised that the anger in his rival’s expression went beyond their usual bickering and he was unsure of what had caused it and how he was meant to react to it. It wasn’t as though he had melted the snow on purpose trying to annoy the others, he had honestly just wanted to play with them, but his magic was making that impossible.

“Perhaps it’s for the best,” Erza said softly, and he flinched almost wishing that she had shouted at him instead, it would be easier to face her anger than her calm support of Gray. But as he glanced around at the others and saw that even Lisanna was looking away guiltily, although he was relieved to see that her earlier tears had dried up.

   Faced with such a united front of disapproval Natsu took an unsteady step backwards, hoping that one of them would try and stop him, but his action was met with complete silence. Feeling his eyes beginning to burn when he realised that they really didn’t want him with them he turned away with a sniff and fled, determined not to let any of them, especially the Ice Princess see his tears. Before he had even reached the end of the street though he had lost his battle against the tears, and he sniffled violently as he paused for a second.

“I just wanted to play with them,” he muttered as he glanced down angrily at his hands, watching as the falling snowflakes brushed against his skin only to vanish instantly as it came up against his heat. Bitterly he clenched his fists, for the first time wishing that he wasn’t a Fire Mage, wishing that he could banish the flame of it that he could constantly feel under his skin, but the only time he wasn’t radiating heat was when he was entirely out of magic…

   An idea sparked in the back of his mind, and although he knew it was probably a bad idea, he couldn’t resist it and hastily scrubbing a hand across his eyes before turning and dashing off down the street.

He would show them that he could play in the snow too!

****

An hour later:

    The rest of the kids had gone back to building their snowmen after Natsu had disappeared, all of them slightly taken aback by the fact that he hadn’t put up much of a fight over what had been said, but they rapidly dismissed it knowing that the Fire mage could never sulk for long. Lisanna was disappointed to have lost her partner, although she was happy when her siblings had pulled her across to join their team, her sadness over the previous melted effort rapidly vanishing, after all, what was better than playing in the snow with her family? However, after a while she began to fall quiet, frequently glancing in the direction that Natsu had taken. He usually would have reappeared by now regardless of how serious the argument had been, as it wasn’t the first time that tempers had flared a little too high, and she couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened to him.

“Lisanna! Lisanna!” She blinked as she realised that Mira was calling to her, and glancing up into her sister’s concerned eyes she guessed that she had spaced out for a while. “What’s wrong? Are you still upset about the snowman?” Mira asked softly once she saw that she had Lisanna’s attention, her expression turning dark for a moment as she recalled her sister’s earlier tears, and Lisanna hastily shook her head, not wanting her sister to go after Natsu again.

“No…”

“Then what’s wrong?” Mira asked with a frown, aware that the others had gathered around, drawn by her earlier shouts of Lisanna’s name only to freeze a moment later when she was tackled by her sister, automatically wrapping her arms around the younger girl and holding her tightly. “Lisanna?”

“I’m worried about Natsu,” Lisanna sniffled as she pressed against her sister and Mira sighed slightly even as she wrapped an arm around the younger girl. Although she had angry after seeing her sister’s tears, she had been trying to keep up the act of being furious, not ready to admit aloud, that she was also worried about the Fire mage and that she wished they’d been a little gentler on the Fire Mage. Thinking back it was clear from his expression that he hadn’t meant to damage the snowman, and she bit her lip as she realised that she had let her temper blind her and she tightened her hold again.

_What did we do?_

“Hah that hothead will be back once he’s got over his sulk,” Gray said harshly as he caught their quiet conversation and they glanced across to see him scowling down at the floor, missing the brief concerned look that passed across his face. _Surely the hothead didn’t take it that seriously?_

“But normally he’d already have come back,” Cana pointed out quietly, looking slightly nervous about speaking against the Ice mage when he was in this kind of mood, and she tensed as he raised his head to look at her, before taking in the concern that he hadn’t managed to hide this time.

“He’ll be fine,” Erza said softly when neither of them spoke, but she sounded less sure than usual, and they all exchanged worried looks as it dawned on them that the situation might be worse than they had thought.

****

   This was definitely a bad idea, Natsu thought as he shivered violently before tugging his scarf tighter around himself and wishing that he had put more clothes on when he had the chance. He’d headed out of Magnolia and up into the hills surrounding the town, unaware of how much worse the weather would be out here, however, sheer stubbornness had kept him moving further and further from the town. The area was well known for being the home of Vulcans, and he was hoping that if he could find some and fight them, then he might be able to wear down his magic enough for him to be able to play in the snow without melting it, if only for a little while.

****

“Kids it’s time to come in now and warm up!” Macao yelled sticking his head out of the door and coming up short as he found the dejected group huddling on the steps, his eyes narrowing in concern as he took a quick headcount and realised that they were short one. “Where’s Natsu?” He asked in surprise, having expected the usually exuberant Fire Mage to be the one that was hardest to drag away from their fun and his concern only grew as they all exchanged suddenly guilty looks.

“He’s gone off somewhere,” Gray replied finally as he felt the weight of all their gazes landing on them, his voice angry as he tried to ignore the guilt welling up in him, especially as none of them had bothered to speak up against him at the time.

“Why?” Macao demanded, hearing the unspoken guilt in the boy’s voice and noting the uncomfortable shifting that spread through the rest of the group as they tried to avoid his gaze and he felt dread growing. Arguments and fights weren’t uncommon in the guild, especially this group, but just from looking at them he could tell that something more serious had happened this time. “Tell me what happened!” He ordered, sighing when they glanced between them all before his gaze settled on Cana knowing that she tended to be the more sensible one out of them when it came to arguments. “Cana?”

“I…” Cana hesitated glancing at the others before sighing as she turned her attention back to the Fire mage, realising that the others weren’t going to help and unable to squash her concern for Natsu and her voice wobbled as she began to explain. “We were…”

****

   Natsu groaned as he picked himself up off the floor, clutching his arm against his chest and trying to breathe through the spikes of pain the injured limb was sending through his body. Despite the pain, though he couldn’t stop a small laugh of triumph escaping as he glanced across at the Vulcan lying unconscious in the snow, its fur heavily charred in places and he couldn’t help but wish that Gildarts had been here to see this victory.

“Take that you stupid monkey,” he taunted before turning his attention to his arm, his smile dimming slightly as he took in the unnatural angle of the bone and the blossoming discolouration on his arm. _This is bad,_ he thought, but that quickly paled with the realisation that he wouldn’t be able to get into any more fights now, and he knew that the others. Or rather Gray would never let him live this down. With a sigh he turned around realising that he needed to head back to the guild now, he had enough knowledge about injuries to know that one like this couldn’t be left untreated for long. Still, it meant that he was going to have to give up on his goal of playing in the snow he thought, expression downcast as he glanced down, watching and listening as the snow crunched beneath his feet.

****

   Macao had been silent while he listened to the explanation, struggling to rein in the urge to snap at them as concern for the Dragon-slayer rose in his chest. He had a good idea why Natsu had been so hesitant to play in the snow, and he wished the younger Fire Mage had actually spoken up before the situation could get like this, but he knew it was fruitless to waste time on wishful thinking. Once Cana had finished, including their growing concern that Natsu hadn’t returned by now, he had nearly descended into a blind panic knowing that her worries were well founded. Natsu couldn’t hold a grudge, he had proven that time and time again, and he hated being on his own as it reminded him of the days before Makarov had found him in the forest.

“Let’s get you all inside,” he said after a moment, knowing that he would need to speak to Makarov so that they could get searches organised but he was reluctant to leave them outside or on their own in their current mood.

“But, what about Natsu?” Lisanna protested as she pulled away from Mira, peering up at Macao with tearful eyes, her fear and worry only increasing as she took in the serious expression on the usually jovial mage’s face.

“We’ll send people to look for him,” Macao promised, noting how they all exchanged worried looks at his words and he knew that they were finally realising just how bad the situation could be. He definitely didn’t have the heart to tell them that the snowstorm was meant to get worse, or that if Natsu had left the town itself, then he would have already discovered that. Instead, he quietly herded them inside, Lisanna breaking out into proper sobs as she allowed Mira to steer her back inside.

_Natsu, you had better be okay…_

****

   Natsu shivered violently as he staggered through the rapidly worsening storm, raising his uninjured hand to shield his face as he peered through the falling snow in the hopes of spotting something that would indicate if he was on the right track. The snow combined with the pain from his arm was making it hard for him to focus on anything and he found himself getting more and more confused.

   Wearily he sank onto his haunches behind a rock, taking a deep breath as the meagre shelter afforded him a brief break from the storm. He still had no idea if he was heading in the right direction, and a strange tiredness was beginning to seep through him, slowly pushing back the pain from his injury and making it harder than ever for him to focus on finding his way home. A brittle laugh forced itself past chilled lips only for him to cough harshly as it stole the precious breath from him, wincing he placed his hand on his chest, noticing for the first time how laboured his breathing was but unable to bring himself to be overly concerned about it.

   It took a worrying amount of effort to get himself back on his feet again after a brief ten-minute rest, and he nearly collapsed back to the ground as he tried to get his feet underneath him. Still, a spark of determination kept him upright, and blearily he staggered out into the storm once more, shivering violently as the storm whipped around him and once more he found himself lost in a world of blinding whiteness and he just hoped that he was heading in more or less the right direction.

****

“NATTTTTSUUU!” Gray hollered as he ducked his head against the wind, growling to himself about how unfair it was for the Master to single him out to look for the Fire mage, even if he knew that it made sense with his magic and that there were other search teams out. It was only the rest of their group that had been forbidden from going out. Still, it rankled that they were safe and warm at home and he was out here looking for a Flamebrain who probably wouldn’t respond even if he heard his calls. He growled angrily under his breath, it wasn’t as though he’d told Natsu to take off into a winter storm! He’d just wanted to make sure that they could enjoy playing in the snow, and having a destructive pyromaniac around wasn’t exactly the best way to do that, and the sight of Lisanna nearly in tears over her snowman had just made him snap.

   In all honesty, he had expected Natsu just to explode at his harsh words earlier, and he had even been preparing for a fight, it had taken some of the wind out of his sails when the hot-head had just taken off instead, but he hadn’t thought it was this serious. However, now it was becoming clear that something about what he had said had struck home more than he had intended it to, but he had no idea why, or what it was that had set the other off, and the uncertainty was only adding to his irritation at being sent on his own to find Natsu.

“Stupid Flamebrain,” he muttered to himself angrily as he forged onwards. Glad at least that his magic protected from most of the effects of the storm, although he still found himself plunging his hands into the pocket of the coat that Erza had forced back onto him before he left. Although he knew that it wouldn’t take long for it to disappear again, not that he had been about to say that when he’d caught the whirling mix of worry, anger and guilt in her eyes and the more serious than the usual expression on her face. “Damn it….Natsu!!”

****

   At some point, the violent shivering that had been wracking his body had disappeared, and in a small distant part of his mind, Natsu knew that that was a bad sign. Unfortunately, by that stage, he was unable to bring himself to care, and the brief spark of awareness was rapidly lost into the confusion clouding his mind as he staggered onwards, only pure stubbornness keeping him moving forwards at this point. He was completely unaware of the fact that at some point he’d managed to discard his scarf, not even the fresh coolness brushing his neck alerting him to this fact.

   The pain from his injured arm was the only thing that brought split seconds of alertness, jarring spikes of agony travelling through it every few steps as his stumbling motions jolted it. At some point, he had managed to bite his tongue due to the pain, and there was a thin trail of blood down his chin, but he hadn’t noticed as he tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. He was aware enough of his situation to know that if he stopped now, then it would be impossible to get going again, and that would be the end of everything, and yet it was getting harder and harder to keep going.

****

   For the first time since all of this had started Gray was actually afraid, his dark eyes wide as he stared down at the scarf in his hands. He had nearly missed it as it blended in well with the snow, but a gust of wind had moved the end just before he walked out of sight and he’d dashed across to retrieve it. He knew there was no way that Natsu would have just abandoned it, and if everything were all right, he would have come back for it. Which meant that the fact that it was just lying here…he swallowed hard at the thought, his fingers trembling as they dug into the material terrified of letting it slip out of his hold.

“Damn it Natsu where are you?” Gray muttered glancing around in the hopes of finding more clues as to which way the Dragon-slayer had gone. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped the scarf around his own neck and tied it firmly in place, praying that he wouldn’t get the urge to discard it without realising as he knew Natsu would be beside himself if he lost it.

   Spurred on by his new concern he plunged back into the storm, praying desperately that he was at least heading in vaguely the same direction as Natsu. But if Natsu had got to the state where he was abandoning things that were this precious to him it didn’t bode well for his physical or mental state, and that meant that there was no way to predict where he was heading. Angry tears formed in his eyes as his guilt increased exponentially at that realisation, and he angrily brushed them aside. He would find Natsu no matter what, and he would make sure that they both got home okay, and then he would find some way of making it up to the Dragon-Slayer.

_Do you hear that Flamebrain? I’m going to find you._

****

   Natsu could no longer feel his body, and after staggering a couple more steps, he found himself crashing heavily to his knees, his head slumping down to rest against his chest. A lingering trace of stubbornness forced him to weakly lift his head once more, and he made a feeble effort to get back to his feet, not understanding the brief flicker of fear that the thought of staying there caused. But he couldn’t get his feet under him, and it didn’t take long for him to abandon the attempt, curling in on himself as he gazed around blearily, not really taking in his surroundings as he lost himself in the haze of confusion.

   A faint noise managed to break into his dazed state a few minutes later, and his head shot up, his gaze unfocused as he tried to work out what it was. The effort of that simple movement had exhausted him though, and he felt himself topping forward into the snow, unable to summon up the strength to stop the fall. For a moment his eyes closed, but then he heard the noise again, and somehow he found the strength to lift his head enough to peer out into the storm.

“Igneel…Dad…” Natsu forced out his voice barely above a whisper as he reached towards the dark shape he could see looming up through the storm, his arm wavered for a moment as he fought to keep it raised but his strength was gone, and a second later it landed in the snow. Tears leaked free only to freeze instantly against his cheeks, and wearily he lowered his head, a dazed smile spreading across his lips as he realised how soft the pillow beneath his head was. “Night… Dad…” He murmured before letting his eyes slip shut, allowing his confused thoughts to drift off as he went completely still, unaware of the snow continuing to fall on him.

***

   Gray’s voice was beginning to grow hoarse from the constant shouting, but he didn’t dare stop in case he missed Natsu. The fear and hopelessness that had been rising from the moment that he had found Natsu’s discarded scarf was growing by the minute, and he was just beginning to feel as though he was going to drown in the feelings when he caught sight of something moving up ahead. Logically he knew that it might not be Natsu and that it was risky drawing attention to himself before he was certain that it was the Fire mage but after so long without even a clue he couldn’t stop himself from shouting hopefully.

“NATSU!”

  There was no answer, but he could’ve sworn that he’d seen whatever he’d spotted faltering, and he sped up, his eyes widening with relief as he got close enough to distinguish pink hair amongst the snow. But the relief was short-lived as he made out Natsu toppling forward, and icy terror gripped him when it didn’t seem as though he was making any attempt to get back to his feet. Natsu never stayed down, no matter what had happened or how severely injured he was, so why wasn’t he trying to get up now?.

“NATSU! I’M COMING!” He shouted to reassure Natsu, unsure of whether the Fire mage was actually aware that he was so close. He saw a brief movement as Natsu lifted an arm to stretch towards him, and his heart clenched in his chest at the gesture seconds before Natsu slumped to the ground once more.

“Natsu! Natsu!” Panic entered his voice when there was no sign of the fire mage stirring, and with fear stirring in his chest he frantically scrambled down the snowbank he was on, barely aware of the snow soaking its way into his trousers. “Oi Flamebrain!” He shouted again as he reached Natsu’s side and reaching out to shake the other boy, only to recoil when the skin beneath his fingers wasn’t scalding to the touch as usual but cold. Cold to the point that he knew if it wasn’t for the fact he was always cool because of his magic, that the other would feel icy to the touch.

   Pulling back his fingers he studied the smaller boy, his eyes widening as he took in the damaged arm, reaching out to tentatively brush his fingers against it. _What the hell happened to you Natsu?_ He asked, easily able to tell that this wound hadn’t come from just wandering around in the snow, and not even a simple fall could’ve caused this damage.

“Gr…ay?” The weak whisper broke through his panic, and he looked down to find dazed olive eyes peering up at him, they were barely more than slits, but after the terrifying stillness, he seized it like a lifeline even though he didn’t like the way they were refusing to focus properly.

“Yeah it’s me,” he said more softly than he’d intended, for once not using any of the usual taunts or nicknames he had for his rival, the confusion swimming in Natsu’s eyes telling him that they would be neither understood nor wanted at this point even if he’d had the heart to use them.

“Not…Gr..ay,” Natsu continued to mumble as his gaze continued wandering around without seeming to focus on anything and Gray could feel his earlier terror rising once more, it was clear that Natsu was worse off than he’d let himself imagine. “Gr…ay’s…m.ad…at…me…wo..dn’t … co..me.” Gray felt his chest tighten as what the Dragon-Slayer was saying registered, and he was stunned to realise how much it hurt to hear Natsu doubted him that much. It was an unspoken rule in the guild that no matter what arguments people had, they were always put aside when someone was in danger; surely Natsu didn’t think he hated him enough to just abandon him out here? He wasn’t even sure that he did hate the idiot!

“Natsu it is me! I’m right here!” He knew he was practically shouting at this point, but the thought that Natsu doubted him this much was bothering more than he’d expected, but there was no further response from the Fire Mage. Suddenly remembering the scarf he reached up, relieved when he found it still securely in place, and with trembling fingers, he untied it before gently wrapping it around Natsu’s neck. He knew that it would be of little use at this stage, but he hoped just having it on would comfort the other boy. “All right we need to get you back to the guild,” he muttered, realising that this was more than he was capable of dealing with on his own and wishing fervently that he had someone else with him.

   Turning his attention back to Natsu’s damaged arm he brought his hands together, and his magic sparked as he carefully formed a splint next to the arm and secured it in place with ice, realising the fact that it didn’t melt as it came into contact with the other boy’s skin was another bad sign. Biting his lip he reached out to gently brush his fingers through pink hair, before carefully he shifted onto his knees, grunting as carefully pulled the limp Dragon-slayer onto his back, terrified that a careless move would cause even more damage. It took longer than he liked to get Natsu into a secure position, and as soon as he was confident he wouldn’t drop the other boy, he was up and moving.

_Hold on Natsu I’m taking you home._

**

   Gray muttered a curse as he stumbled slightly as he strayed into a patch of deeper snow, struggling to rebalance the other’s weight so that he didn’t drop the unconscious Dragon-Slayer and make his injuries worse. He could feel the sharp coldness of the ice-splint he had conjured for Natsu’s arm poking against his back, and once again he wondered what on earth had happened to the other boy as he knew from personal experience just how strong his rival was. The silence was pressing in on him uncomfortably, and he half wished that Natsu was awake to break it, even if they just bickering or the Dragon-slayer was complaining. At least then he would know that Natsu was still with him.

“Don’t you die on me you idiot,” he whispered the words softly, and they were instantly lost in the storm, and he found himself having to blink sudden tears out of his eyes. _Natsu can’t die._ Swallowing hard he gritted his teeth and pressed onwards, praying that he was going in the right direction and that he would manage to run into one of the other search teams soon. Although he doubted that they would’ve searched as far out as he had. Even he hadn’t expected Natsu to get that far, and if he hadn’t found the scarf, he might have turned back before running into the Dragon-slayer although he hastily shoved that thought aside, terrified to consider what might have happened if he had turned back.

****

“Help!” Gray called frantically as he staggered into the guild hall, his strength running on fumes after the long trek back and to his horror, he felt his legs giving away beneath him. Before he could fall far though, warm arms were wrapping themselves around him, and he felt someone gently taking Natsu off his back, and he had to bite back the urge to cry out in alarm. He didn’t want to be separated from the Fire Mage, but he knew Natsu needed medical care and soon.

“Easy I’ve got him,” a warm voice said soothingly, and blinking hard he turned his head to find that Macao was crouched beside him with Natsu cradled gently in his arms, a glance to the other side showed that it was Wakaba who was carefully supporting him. Mumbling thanks he turned his attention back to Natsu, wincing as he realised that the other boy looked even worse under the bright lights of the guild hall. Natsu’s skin was deathly pale with a blue tinge in places, while his arm was a complete mess, and just the sight of it made Gray have to bite back a sudden flash of nausea.

“Get him upstairs,” Makarov barked as he stared down at the shivering Dragon-Slayer, his frown deepening when he couldn’t pick up on the usual flare of magic dancing around the boy, and he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened out there. Still, this was not the time to ask, and he watched with worried eyes as Macao carefully rose and hurried for the stairs without another word, Natsu’s still form cradled protectively against his chest.

“Gra…Master?” Gray asked anxiously, carefully switching to the more formal method of address as he knew the Old man was less than happy with him at the moment. He forced himself not to flinch as Makarov turned to look at him with a grim expression, but after a moment the Master’s expression softened slightly and he sighed before giving the young Ice mage an almost smile.

“He’ll be okay, Gray,” Makarov said reassuringly as he saw the concern and fear glittering in the boy’s eyes and realising that he couldn’t stay angry with him for long, especially after the effort that Gray had put into finding Natsu and getting him back to the guild. “Natsu’s strong and you did well to get him back here so fast. Get a warm drink and then go and have a hot bath and wrap up, you look cold.”

“But…” Gray protested weakly as he glanced towards where Natsu had gone, terrified that something might happen while he was gone.

“I’ll send someone to let you know how he is,” Makarov promised softly, briefly resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder and Gray found himself swallowing hard at the gesture before he nodded softly and muttering a weak agreement.

“Okay…”


	2. Part: II

Two hours later:

   Gray had managed to go home and have a warm bath and drink, although he’d spent every moment thinking about everything that had happened, the guilt he was feeling building by the moment as the memory of Natsu’s pale face flashed through his mind. Arguments and harsh words were nothing new between them, but this was different. He had clearly hurt the Dragonslayer deeply and worse he wasn’t entirely sure how or why it had been different this time. Why hadn’t Natsu brushed it off like normal? Or lashed out? Not that it really mattered. He owed Natsu an apology regardless of whatever else had been going on, he just hoped his rival would be willing to hear him out, and that he would be back on his feet soon to hear it.

_Please get better Natsu…_

   The night was already falling when he returned to the guild, but he was unsurprised when he found Erza and the others sitting morosely in one corner, the entire atmosphere in the guild was sombre, and he noticed that most of the search groups had returned as well. Cautiously, aware of the eyes fixed on their group he made his way across to the table unsurprised when they all immediately turned to look at him, and he braced himself, knowing that they had questions that they hadn’t had the chance to ask earlier. He had barely settled into a seat when the barrage began, and for a moment all he could do was stare at them as their questions washed over him in a tangled mess.

“What happened?”

“Will he be alright?”

“Did you two fight again?”

“Enough!” He slammed his hand against the table, ice flaring around his hand for a moment as he lost control of his temper as the last question registered and he glared darkly at Erza, for once not backing down as she glowered back at him and he had to admit he was offended that she thought that lowly of him. “Of course I didn’t fight him! I found him out in the snow, he was already injured and practically unconscious when I found him. I carried him back here, and that’s all!” _Do you really think that I would do something else to hurt him?_ He wondered, feeling more than a little hurt that they would that, and he almost asked the question aloud.

“But…”

“I don’t know any more than that,” Gray cut across them with a fierce scowl, his hurt making him a little sharper than he’d needed to be. They’d seen him bring Natsu back, what else did they expect him to know? Especially when he’d been sent off to warm up just after Natsu had been whisked away upstairs, his eyes widened at that memory, and he could have kicked himself for not asking earlier as he blurted out urgently. “There wasn’t any news while I was gone?” He unconsciously crossed his fingers praying for a positive answer, although logically he knew that they would have told him already if anything had happened. But he had been gone for a couple of hours, so something should have happened…right?

“No,” Cana replied softly, a worried frown on her face as she glanced towards the stairs that led upstairs before she added nervously. “And the Master hasn’t come back down yet.” They’d all made various attempts to get upstairs and find out what was happening with their friend, but the adults were adamant in keeping them downstairs until there was news and even now she could feel eyes on them, making sure that they weren’t making a fresh attempt.

“Natsu looked really bad…” Lisanna whispered tearfully from where she was snuggled into her sister’s side, the older take-over mage for once not caring about maintaining her tough exterior as she had one arm around each of her younger siblings.

“Shh, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mira said reassuringly, and there was such confidence in her voice that Gray couldn’t help glancing across at her, unfortunately just in time to catch the brief flicker of uncertainty in her eyes as her gaze met Erza’s for the briefest second and he hastily lowered his eyes.

_You don’t believe that…_

“Really?” Lisanna piped up hopefully having missed all the byplay, and by the time her pleading eyes had met her sister’s, there was no trace of the older girl’s uncertainty.

“Of course,” Mira replied instantly, earning a weak smile from the younger girl before she added strongly. “This is Natsu we’re talking about, that idiot is too stubborn to let something like this keep him down for long.”

“Yeah,” Lisanna nodded with seeming confidence, but then she pressed back into her sister’s side as she added softly. “I hope so.”

   Gray wanted to snarl at them all for daring to fool themselves with false confidence. He couldn’t forget the sight of Natsu sprawled helplessly in the snow, the coldness of the ice splint pressing into his back and the limp way the Dragon-slayer had laid on his back. It was impossible to summon even false confidence with those memories pushing in so close, and so he stayed silent, huddling in on himself and ignoring the curious and somewhat worried looks that the others were sending him. They didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to enlighten them. Slowly his gloomy silence spread out amongst the small group, dousing even the tiny flame that Mira’s words had conjured as they all waited anxiously for some news on their friend.

**

   It was nearly an hour later that there was movement on the stairs, causing a ripple of noise to pass through the guild alerting the small group and they turned just as Makarov made his way down into the Guildhall, an unusually grim expression on his face.

“Master?!” Erza called hopefully trying to ignore the worry gnawing at her as she took his expression, her cry rousing Lisanna and Cana who had both been dozing awkwardly, both girls sitting up sharply and turning their attention towards their Guild master even as they rubbed the sleep from their eyes. Gray had reacted slower, unsure if he truly wanted to hear whatever news the Old man had brought, and he found himself tensing. Bracing himself for what he was slowly convincing himself was guaranteed to be bad news. _Natsu looked bad. What if it was worse than I thought? What if I took too long to find him?_ He thought rapidly working himself into a frenzy, but his thoughts skidded to a halt as Makarov held up a hand for silence, looking around the entire guild as he waited for everyone to fall quiet.

“Natsu is currently resting,” Makarov announced to the entire guild, although his gaze lingered on the kids as he spoke knowing that they were the worst affected by what had happened, although it was clear that the entire guild was worried about their little Dragon-slayer. Even Laxus who’d returned in the middle of the searchers coming back looked concerned, although he was doing his best to mask it beneath his usual mask. “He had a broken arm and numerous bruises, and he suffered from severe hypothermia. However, with rest and time, I believe that he will make a full recovery.” His grim expression eased slightly as he finished, and he could feel relief washing through the guild as chatter began to break out once more. A quick glance towards Gray though showed that the young Ice mage still wasn’t convinced and he sighed softly, there was a lot to heal between the Ice mage and Dragon-slayer, but he found himself unable to summon his previous irritation at how the former had acted, and he quietly headed towards the small group.

“Is Natsu really going to be okay?” Lisanna practically pounced on him when he reached them, her blue eyes wide and shining with unshed tears as she stared up at him. “Has he woken up?” The sight of her best friend lying so still and quiet in Macao’s arms had terrified her, and she desperately wanted a new memory to replace that one.

“He’s not woken yet, but he’s doing better,” Makarov replied gently, resting a hand on her shoulder as her expression fell at the news that Natsu hadn’t woken. He knew that she was the closest to Natsu, and one of the main reasons why the Dragon-slayer had managed to take to guild life so quickly. Before the Strauss siblings had arrived the Fire mage had always maintained a certain distance from the others kids, behaviour that had stemmed from the recent disappearance of Igneel, he’d been afraid to let people close in case they disappeared too, but then Lisanna had arrived and blown straight through his flimsy barriers.

“Can…?” She began hesitantly, and Makarov knew precisely what she was about to ask, and while he felt bad for denying her, he knew that there was someone who needed to see Natsu far more than she did at the moment, and his gaze was soft as it landed on Gray.

“Gray, could you sit with him for a while?” He asked softly, offering the boy a small smile when his head shot upwards, and Gray stared at him in shock, barely aware of the hurt expression on Lisanna’s face.

“Me?” Gray asked uncertainly, startled both by the question and the soft tone that it had been delivered in. He had been certain that the Old man would still be furious with him, not that he could really blame. “Is that really okay?”

“Of course,” Makarov reassured him quickly, his smile warming as he saw some of the uncertainty leaving Gray’s expression. “Macao is with him at the moment, but he could use a break. Just make sure to shout for someone if he wakes up or something changes.” Usually, he might’ve been a bit more hesitant about leaving one of the kids to watch over Natsu, but he knew that there was no way Gray would let anything else happen to the Dragon-slayer and that the Ice mage needed to see for himself that the other boy was still with them.

   Gray swallowed hard at the instruction, hearing the unspoken changes for the worst and realising that while Natsu was resting, he still wasn’t better. Still, he nodded eagerly, wanting…no needing to see the Dragon-slayer for himself, and ignoring the dark look Lisanna was shooting him he said emphatically.

“I will.”

**

    Gray hesitated when he reached the door to the infirmary, torn between the desire to see Natsu and fear of how he might look. But remembering the fact that Makarov had chosen him to sit with Natsu, even when there were so many others that would have happily taken his place, and who probably deserved the chance more than he did, gave him the strength to move forward and he quietly opened the door and slipped inside. Shifting nervously when Macao glanced up at the noise, but the Fire Mage’s expression softened as his gaze fell on the nervous boy.

“Ah Gray,” he greeted kindly, before glancing down at Natsu for a moment and Gray forced himself not to follow his gaze. Frightened about what he might see and feeling as though he might have used up all his courage just stepping inside the room. “Have you come to take over?” Macao asked as he turned back to the Ice mage, frowning slightly as he realised that Gray had made no move to come closer and was carefully avoiding looking at the bedridden Dragon-slayer. He had been expecting their Master to send the boy up, but it seemed like maybe Gray hadn’t been as ready for this as they’d thought and he had to bite back a sigh, not wanting to Gray to think he was irritated with him.

“Y-yes,” Gray finally managed to force out, his eyes flicking briefly to the bed and catching a glimpse of pink hair protruding from the pile of blankets that had been heaped on the bed. “Is he…?”

“There’s been no change,” Macao replied softly guessing what Gray was trying to ask, hastily continuing as he caught the way the boy’s expression had darkened at his words. “He’s still not woken, and he’s got a fever, but he’s doing alright.” There was no way he was going to mention the doubt they’d felt earlier when they were trying to get Natsu warmed up or the fact that it was possible that there might still be complications in his recovery. Not when Gray looked like another piece of bad news would send him fleeing.

“Oh.”

“Come here Gray,” Macao called encouragingly, and Gray found himself taking an automatic step forwards before he came to a halt, his gaze flickering to the bed and away again and the Fire mage sighed softly at the sight. “You not going to hurt him by being close to him.” Gray looked doubtful for a minute before his shoulders tensed, and he finally began to move across to the bed, although it was clear that he was fighting the urge to turn around and bolt with every step.

“I…” Gray trailed off as he finally reached them, allowing his gaze to properly fall on Natsu for the first time, and the urge to bolt intensified as he stared wide-eyed at the Dragon-slayer. Natsu was only marginally less pale than he had been the last time he’d seen him, dark shadows under his eyes and his cheeks were flushed with fever and even as he watched the Fire mage shifted uneasily, whimpering under his breath.

“Easy Natsu,” Macao was instantly at his side, reaching out to gently touch the Dragon-slayer’s cheek and Gray blinked as Natsu settled after a moment.

“Macao…” Gray began nervously, there was no way that he was going to be able to soothe Natsu as easily as the older man had and he backed away nervously. “I-I can’t.” He stilled as suddenly Macao was at his side, hands coming to rest gently on his shoulders and he blinked as he stared up at the older man in surprise.

“You can do this,” Macao said firmly and without the slightest hint of doubt in his expression as he met Gray’s slightly panicked gaze. “All you need to do is watch over him, and talk to him. He just needs to know that he isn’t alone right now.” The Dragon-slayer had panicked earlier when there had been no one right by his side, even though he hadn’t stirred fully and Macao was keen to avoid that happening again.

“But…What do I say to him?” Gray asked uncertainly, he knew that there was a lot that he needed to say to Natsu, but all of that required Natsu actually being awake and aware enough to hear what he had to say. And it wasn’t as though they were used to having peaceful conversations at the best of times, they nearly always managed to find something to at least bicker about if not outright fight over, not that Natsu would be able to do either at the moment.

“Anything,” Macao said with a reassuring smile before he glanced across at Natsu again, adding quietly. “He might not hear the words, but hearing your voice is what is important.”

“Oh…” Gray blinked, Macao’s words soothing his nerves and he swallowed once more before straightening slightly and nodding his head firmly. “Okay.” _I can do this. I hope_ , he added privately as he glanced at Natsu as well, squaring his shoulders as he reminded himself that Makarov had chosen him for this task.

“Will you be okay?” Macao asked, although he was pleased to see the fresh determination in the Ice mage’s expression and he smiled warmly when Gray gave a steady nod in reply. “Someone will be up to check on you both in a while.”

“Okay,” Gray mumbled and with a last nod the older mage and turned and headed for the door, pausing as Gray added softly. “Thank you, Macao.” With a small smile and a wave, Macao slipped out of the door, closing it softly behind himself and hoping that this would start to repair the rift between the pair.

**

    Gray hesitated for a couple of minutes after the door had closed behind the older mage, his gaze fixed blindly on the Dragon-slayer before he forced himself to move. His legs wavering slightly as he walked around the bed and dropping into the seat that Macao must have been using with a sigh of relief before he turned his attention fully towards Natsu. The rough ice-splint he’d made before had been replaced by a proper cast, and he winced at the sight knowing that Natsu would be out of action for a while and he knew that the Dragon-slayer was going to hit the roof once he found out, and probably him at the same time.

“Hey Natsu,” He managed to whisper past suddenly dry lips, remembering what Macao had said about the Dragon-slayer needing to hear his voice. “I-I know I’m probably not the one you want babysitting you…watching over you…” He amended swiftly as he imagined how the other boy would react to being told that he was being babysat, and despite the situation, a wan smile slipped onto his face, although it rapidly disappeared as Natsu began to shift uneasily once more and he immediately leant forward. He didn’t quite dare to reach out and comfort the Dragon-slayer in the same way that Macao had just yet. “I’m right here Natsu. I know I screwed up earlier, but I’m not going anywhere, so you’re stuck with me.”

   For a moment it seemed as though Natsu had heard him, the restless movements easing somewhat as the pale face turned towards him and Gray bit his lip slightly. _Had he managed to do it? Had he managed to do the same thing Macao had…_

“I…ju..just wanted to play in the snow with everyone,” Natsu mumbled fretfully as he began to toss and turn again, his forehead scrunched up in distress, and for Gray, it felt as though he had been kicked in the chest as what Natsu was saying finally registered. Even after finding Natsu out in the storm he thought the other boy had just gone wandering, unable to believe that his rival could have been so badly affected by his words no matter what the others had said, but it was getting harder to maintain his denial as he sat next to the feverish Fire mage.

“Shh Natsu,” he murmured awkwardly, finally reaching out to grasp one of Natsu’s hands and fighting the urge not to drop it at the heat he could feel raging underneath the sweaty skin. Guilt tore at him as Natsu whimpered slightly before restlessly burrowing against the pillow as though trying to escape from the fever. “I’m so sorry Natsu, I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” he whispered guiltily as he clings tightly to the overly warm hand, letting a little of his magic play along with his skin in the hopes of soothing him.

Please get better soon.

**

A couple of hours later:

   Gray was utterly exhausted, the events of the day and the strain of watching Natsu fighting the fever catching up on him now. Made worse by the fact that he had been using his magic nearly continuously for the past couple of hours as it had seemed to settle the Dragon-slayer somewhat, although it hadn’t been enough to drive the fever out completely. His voice was growing hoarse as well by this point, and he still had no idea what he’d found to talk about for so long, but Natsu had always settled whenever he spoke, and he couldn’t deny the Dragon-slayer anything at the moment.

   He nearly leapt a foot in the air when a hand landed on his shoulder a moment later, having missed the sound of the door opening behind him and Ice flared over his skin as he whirled around, coming up short when he found Wakaba looking down at him with a worried expression.

“Wakaba…”

“Go and get some rest you look like you’re about to fall asleep any moment,” Wakaba said softly as he gently squeezed Gray’s shoulder, smiling warmly as Gray glanced between him and Natsu with a worried expression. “I’ll stay with him,” he added seeing the boy opening his mouth in preparation to protest, and the Ice mage slumped in defeat, knowing that he really did need to rest before he got ill as well which wouldn’t help the situation.

“I’ll come back and see you later,” he murmured quietly as he turned his gaze back to the Dragonslayer, waiting hopefully for a moment to see if there was any hint of a response but Natsu didn’t stir in the slightest and Gray bit his lip to try and reign in his disappointment. “Look after him,” he said softly as he got to his feet and Wakaba nodded as he removed his hand, pretending not to notice how red-rimmed the boy’s eyes were as he glanced back at Natsu.

“I will,” he said softly watching with sad eyes as the Ice mage nodded silently before heading for the door, looking wearier and disheartened than the smoke mage had seen before and he wished that there was something he could say to make it better. “You better get well soon kiddo,” he murmured turning to look down at Natsu, knowing the Dragon-slayer’s recovery was the only thing that would get Gray back on his feet anytime soon, and he sighed softly as he dropped into the seat Gray had just vacated, reaching out to grasp Natsu’s hand.

****

The next morning:

“Master?” Macao asked as he stepped into the room, alarmed to find Makarov sat beside Natsu with a worried expression written across his face and a quick glance at the unconscious Dragonslayer confirmed that the boy looked much worse than he had the night before when the Fire mage had last visited him. For a moment his steps faltered, but then he steadied himself as he moved swiftly across to join the older man, hoping that this backwards step hadn’t occurred when Gray was watching over him as he doubted the Ice mage could cope with anything else at the moment.

“He’s taken a turn for the worse,” Makarov said softly glancing up at Macao with grim eyes which showed the fear he was barely keeping out of his expression, before turning his attention back to Natsu and gently brushing his hands against a clammy cheek before sighing heavily as he added solemnly. “I’ve sent for Porlysuica.”

“But…” Macao paused, swallowing hard at the news as he knew there was no way that the older man would have called for the temperamental healer unless it was absolutely essential, and his voice wavered slightly as he asked. “He’ll be okay, right?” From the moment that Natsu had been brought to Fairy Tail, he had felt a kinship with the younger Fire mage, taking pride in showing him new tricks to do with his magic, and feeling pride whenever Natsu mastered them far faster than he’d been expecting. Natsu has to be alright. For everyone’s sake, he added as he caught the masked grief in Makarov’s eyes

“I hope so,” Makarov said softly, but there was a lack of confidence in his voice that hit the younger man hard. “But…” He trailed off as his gaze slid back to Natsu, his expression growing pained as the Dragon-slayer shifted restlessly on the bed with a pained whimper and he reached out once more to comb his fingers through sweat-soaked hair in the hopes of soothing him.

“Was Gray with him when…?” Macao asked with an increased sense of urgency, if this was having such an impact on Makarov he dreaded to think what it would be doing to Gray if he knew.

“No,” Makarov reassured him swiftly, before adding quietly. “Wakaba was with him.”

“Thank heavens,” Macao murmured although he felt bad for his friend, knowing that Wakaba was just as fond of Natsu as he was, but at least it meant that Gray hadn’t had to see this. “I’ll tell the others not to let Gray up here again until this is resolved,” Macao said after a moment with a frown, knowing that there was no way they could let the Ice Mage see Natsu in this state…

“That’s a good idea,” Makarov agreed realising the reason behind the request, and cursing himself for not thinking of it earlier, they were lucky that Gray hadn’t already come up to try and visit the Dragon-slayer. “I’ll stay with him until Porlysuica has seen him,” he added before turning back to murmur softly to Natsu who was growing even more restless, and Macao’s expression tightened for a moment before he turned away to go and warn the others.

 ****

An hour later:

“Why can’t I see him?” Gray demanded with a scowl as he stared up at Macao who was blocking his path up to the infirmary, unable to understand why they were suddenly trying to keep him away from the Dragon-slayer after encouraging to sit with him only the night before. It didn’t appease him in the slightest that the others had all been met with the same response either. He wanted to see Natsu. He needed to see him after a long night spent tossing and turning and slipping in and out of nightmares where he’d not managed to reach the Dragon-slayer in time, and although he knew that wasn’t the case, he needed to see the other just to reassure himself.

“Natsu’s condition has got worse,” Macao replied grimly after a moment, realising that Gray wasn’t going to give up until he got a proper answer. He watched with more than a hint of regret as the colour drained out of the boy’s face, and he reached out to steady him only for Gray to back away slightly as he struggled to pull himself back together.

“But, he wasn't that bad. You all said he just needed to rest,” Gray said heatedly, anger rising as he felt his world tilting slightly, but just as he quickly as it had appeared the anger faded away and his voice was low and defeated as he asked. “Will he get better?”

“We’re not sure at the moment,” Macao admitted softly glancing towards the stairs. Porlysuica had arrived half an hour ago, and neither she or Makarov had appeared since and he had to admit that he was growing more worried by the second, but he couldn’t afford to show that when he knew that all the kids were watching his every move.

“It’s my fault. If I hadn’t said anything…” Gray was muttering under his breath, he had been waiting for Macao to turn around and say that Natsu would be fine. That it was a setback but the Dragon-slayer would be able to pull through, and he felt panic threatening to overwhelm him when that wasn’t what the older mage had replied. Realising that Gray was on the verge of a panic attack Macao quickly reached out to grab the boy’s arms, crouching down so that he was on his eye level.

“It isn’t your fault Gray,” he said gently, waiting until wide dark eyes rose slowly to meet his gaze and forcing a small smile onto his lips when their gazes met before adding softly. “You were the one that found him and brought him home. You’re the one that splinted his arm, it would have been a lot worse if you hadn’t and you sat with him last night when he needed the company.”

“But…”

“He’ll forgive you for what happened yesterday,” Macao said, knowing that Gray wouldn’t be able to accept the fact that he had already done a lot to make amends until he had been able to apologise for the fight that had triggered all this.

“If he gets better…”

“This is Natsu,” Macao pointed out strongly, not allowing his own concern or doubt to leak into either his expression or voice and he was rewarded for his effort as he felt Gray calming somewhat under his touch. “He won’t let this defeat him, and he’s too stubborn to give up on beating you and Erza,” he added with a hint of humour in his voice, and he was rewarded by the faintest lightening of Gray’s expression, the closest the boy could probably get to a smile at the moment.

“Yeah.” I hope you’re right…

**

   It was late afternoon that they finally got any news, and by that point, any relief Gray had managed to get from Macao’s words had long since disappeared. Even sitting with the others hadn’t helped, as they were just as worried he was and he could still see a hint of blame and disapproval in their eyes whenever they glanced at him. It irritated him as much as it hurt him because they hadn’t stopped the argument the day before and yet it seemed as though they had forgotten that. However, he carefully bit his tongue. The thought of arguing with more of his friends at the moment making his chest ache, and he merely ducked his head after glancing hopefully towards the stairs.

    When Makarov finally came downstairs the whole guild was gathered, the news of Natsu’s setback having quickly spread, unease spreading as they took in the weariness and concerned expression written across the Guild master's face. However, as he looked around at them all something seemed to ease within his expression.

“We’ve managed to get his fever back under control,” he announced once he’d pulled himself together, only the tension around his eyes indicating just how close that battle had been. And there was no way he was going to admit that there had been a high chance that the Dragon-slayer at one point, knowing that none of them needed the burden of that knowledge and wishing that he could block it from his mind as well. “He can’t have any visitors just yet, but Porlysuica says that he should be past the most dangerous point now.”

“Are you sure?” Erza demanded having pushed her way to the front of the crowd, having caught the flicker of darker emotion in his eyes and guessing that more had happened than he was letting on and he wanted to curse her alertness.

“Not entirely,” He admitted, before holding up a hand to silence the whispers that had broken out in the wake of her question. “But Porlysuica is staying with him so we’ll be able to catch any more spikes before they can get too bad.” The whispers faded rapidly in the face of that information, the entire guild knowing from experience just how good the healer was, and knowing not to doubt her for fear of bringing her wrath down on their heads.

“When will we be able to see him again?” Gray finally found his voice, although he made no move to push his way forward, not wanting to feel everyone’s eyes on him again.

“Probably not until tomorrow at the earliest,” Makarov said softly, catching the disappointment that flickered across the Ice mage’s face and his voice was warm as he added. “I promise I’ll let you know as soon as he can have visitors.”

“Thank you,” Gray whispered meeting Makarov’s eyes for a brief moment, before turning and pushing his way out of the crowd and heading for the exit, unable to bear the thought of just sitting around in the guild hall with everyone watching as he waited for news.

_I’ll wait for you Natsu,  and when you wake up I’ll be there to apologise to you…_

****

Two days later:

   Natsu blinked as he slowly inched his eyes open, the lids feeling unbelievably heavy to the point where he was almost tempted to give up on his efforts and just let them fall shut once more. There was also something whispering at the back of his mind, warning him that there was something terrible to face when he woke up and felt the temptation to drift off again growing ever stronger. However, there was a quiet voice to the side urging him to wake up, and even in his half-asleep state, he could hear the concern in the person’s words, so he stubbornly forced his eyes opening, blinking hard in an attempt to clear the fog clouding his vision.

    It took several minutes for him to clear his vision enough to make out the wooden ceiling above his head and he blinked, easily able to tell that he wasn’t in his own room even though he wasn’t fully awake just yet. His forehead creased as he tried to work out where he was, and how he had got here. His thoughts fuzzy and jumbled and he moaned slightly as the effort of sorting his thoughts out made his already painful head ache even more. The soft clearing of a throat made him jump, wincing as pain lanced through his arm and head at the movement and he bit his lip to stop himself crying out before slowly tilting his head towards the noise, coming up short as he found Makarov sat in a chair beside the bed.

   For a long moment, they just stared at one another in silence, Natsu taking in the weariness and worry in the Old Man's face, an expression that he hadn’t seen since Laxus had been dragged back to the guild, severely injured after a job gone wrong a few months back and he frowned slightly.

“Wha’ happened?” He croaked, wincing as the words were forced past dry lips. “Whose hurt?” He added, sure that only one of their family getting hurt could’ve put that expression on Makarov’s face, and he was confused by the sudden fury that passed over the other’s face. However, it quickly disappeared as Makarov reached out to pick up a glass of water that had been resting on the table beside them, and Natsu didn’t protest as he was helped into a sitting position before the glass pressed against his lips.

    Greedily he sipped at the water, reluctantly heeding the warnings to slow down as he let his gaze rove around the room, realising with a frown that he was in the infirmary and his eyes widened slightly. _Oh? I’m the one that was hurt?_ He realised feeling inexplicably guilty as he pulled away, glancing down at himself, olive eyes widening as he took in the bandage wrapped around his arm and the array of bruises across his chest. _What happened? Did I lose another fight with Gray?_ He couldn’t remember going on a job, and it was usually scraps with the Ice mage that landed him in the infirmary, although he couldn’t help but feel that he would’ve remembered getting beaten this badly by his rival.

“How are you feeling?” Makarov asked as he set the glass aside, his voice startling Natsu out of his thoughts and he blinked in surprise for a moment, pausing as he tried to take stock of how he was really feeling. His entire body ached he realised, although the worst of the pain was concentrated in his arm…broken…his mind supplied as he carefully moved it, hissing at the pain it caused, and he tried his best to smile despite that as he refocused on the Guild-master.

“Sore…” He admitted, knowing that there was no point in trying to hide it as Makarov must’ve seen his pained reactions, and he frowned as he added slowly. “And confused…what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Makarov asked with a worried frown, they hadn’t found any evidence of head injuries, but maybe they had been too hasty to rule it out. But then again it hadn’t been a pleasant experience, and that with the addition of hypothermia was probably more than enough to cause confusion. The worst part was that he wasn’t entirely sure whether it would be better if Natsu remembered or not. “You went up into the mountains, we’re not entirely sure what happened, but it looks like you fought with something before succumbing to the winter storm that hit.” Natsu frowned at that last bit, aware that it must’ve been one hell of a storm to overwhelm his fire magic. Although if he’d been fighting his magic might’ve been running low. Still, he wished that he could remember what had happened, and how…he pouted in realisation before turning back to Makarov.

“How did I get home?”

“Gray found you and carried you home,” Makarov replied carefully, well aware of the rivalry that existed between the pair even before this latest incident and he was unsurprised when Natsu’s first reaction was to scowl angrily. Clearly unimpressed with the idea of owing the Ice mage anything, but then his expression evened out, and he just looked confused.

“Gray…?”

“You two might fight all the time, but deep down you’re still friends,” Makarov pointed out with a small smile. He knew that there were many in the guild that doubted the pair would ever be able to get along properly, but he knew that eventually, they would get past their current childish animosity - at least for the most part. Or at least that was what he had believed before this latest incident. Now it might depend on how Natsu reacted when, or if he remembered what had happened to cause him to take off into the mountains and whether Gray’s apology would be able to reach him when that happened.

“I guess,” Natsu muttered still not comfortable with the thought that he had been rescued by the Ice Princess, especially when his own magic should have meant that he hadn’t needed help. Wearily he sank back against the pillows, realising that he already felt like falling asleep again and he closed his eyes for a moment. However, his thoughts wouldn’t settle. _Why was I out in the mountains? It doesn’t sound like I was on a job?_ He pondered, certain that they would’ve had a better idea of what had happened to him if that was the case, and he was reasonably sure that he hadn’t heard any rumours of Dragons either. Something stirred in his memories at the thought of his foster-father, and his eyes flew open.

“Natsu…?” Makarov asked cautiously having caught the reaction, but Natsu didn’t reply, staring off towards the far wall with worryingly blank eyes and the Old man shifted uneasily, not liking the sight of his endlessly energetic brat in such a state. “Natsu?”

“I remember,” Natsu mumbled finally after a few minutes had passed and while his gaze had lost its blankness, he carefully avoided looking at the older man as the hurt of Gray’s words and the silence of the other’s came back to him. Something in his chest aching at the memory, and he could feel his eyes beginning to sting at the memories now flooding his mind. “They were angry at me for melting the snow. But I didn’t mean to!” He burst out in alarm, suddenly afraid that the old man might be angry at him and blame him for ruining the others’ fun as well and he blinked as there was a heavy sigh before a gentle hand came to rest on his cheek. Despite his fears, he found himself tilting his head to peer up at Makarov, startled to see no hint of anger or disapproval in the dark eyes, just concern and understanding, and he blinked as his eyes began to sting.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Makarov reassured him, even if he hadn’t already worked out what the issue was he would’ve known that Natsu would never have acted maliciously. He was disappointed that the rest of Natsu’s group hadn’t been able to see that at the time, so much trouble could’ve been avoided if they’d been clear-headed. “The others were out of line with what they said, and I believe that they all know that now.”

“Even Gray?” Natsu asked with a hint of doubt in his voice, shivering as he recalled the harsh words that the Ice mage had spat at him. Words that had only been compounded by the silence that had followed afterwards when none of his friends had spoken up in his defence.

“Especially Gray,” Makarov said with a warm smile. “He spent most of yesterday with you, and he was here earlier as well, but I sent him off to get a break.” It had been a fight to get the Ice mage to leave even with the promise that he could come back in a couple of hours, as Gray had been terrified that Natsu might take another turn for the worse if he left his side for longer than a couple of minutes at a time.

“But, what he said…”

“I know he hurt you,” Makarov said soothingly, reaching out to grasp one of Natsu’s hands as the Dragon-slayer gestured anxiously in the air, and startled olive eyes met his gaze for a moment. “And Gray knows that as well. He’s been waiting to apologise to you. But you have to realise that he never wanted all of this to happen.” No matter how badly the boys fought and even when they got truly angered, they never got to the point of actually wanted to properly injure one another and he didn’t want this incident to tar their friendship.

“I…”

“Just think about it alright?” Makarov asked, realising that it was too much for Natsu to decide on having just woken up and he was relieved when the Dragon-slayer gave a reluctant nod of agreement after a brief hesitation. “Natsu…” He waited until Natsu nervously met his gaze. “Will you tell me what you were doing up in the mountains?” He asked cautiously, it was the one thing that he truly hadn’t understood in this situation. Natsu always fought back during arguments, or if he did storm off, it was never for long, so what had gone wrong this time?

“I…” Natsu trailed off, remembering how he had felt back then and why he had gone off on his own, and he ducked his head. Not wanting to see the Old man’s expression when he realised the true extent of the Dragon-slayer’s stupidity, and it had been stupid he realised now. “I wanted to prove them wrong…”

“About?”

“I wanted to show them that I could play in the snow too…” Natsu sniffled slightly as he glanced towards the window, his expression darkening as he realised that the snow was still falling outside and he lowered his eyes again as he clenched his good hand. “I thought if I used up all my magic that I would be able to…”

“Oh Natsu,” Makarov murmured softly, closing his eyes for a moment as he realised just how much Natsu must’ve been hurting to even contemplate such a plan.

“It all went wrong though…” Natsu added softly, tilting his head towards his broken arm and there was more than a hint of bitterness in his voice. “I headed home after that, but I don’t know what happened after that…” He had vague recollections of overwhelming cold and confusion but nothing that made any sense, and he dragged his thoughts back to the present not wanting to remember.

“You were lucky,” Makarov said and Natsu hung his head even further as he waited for the scolding that he was sure was about to be heaped onto his head. “Natsu, you’re not in trouble. I understand why you did what you did, and the fact that you know it was an error is enough. I’m just glad you’re home, and that you’re on the mend.” Natsu peered up at him with surprise, but there was nothing but sincerity in the old man’s eyes, and finally, a small smile slipped free, and he nodded quietly, wincing as fresh pain spiked through his head. “You should get some more sleep,” Makarov said softly as he caught the wince, and Natsu reluctantly nodded as he suddenly became aware of the exhaustion pressing in on him.

“’Kay,” he murmured around a yawn, allowing Makarov to carefully guide him back down onto the pillow sleepily protesting when the man began to tuck the covers around him, although he made no move to stop him instead snuggling down under them with a soft hum.

“Sleep Natsu…” Makarov ordered as he settled back in his seat, still unwilling to leave the Dragon-slayer on his own even if he had woken up and been coherent.

“Gramps,” Natsu mumbled sleepily, and Makarov leant forward, slightly surprised by the intensity of the gaze that he found himself fixated under. “Can…Can I see Gray later?”

“Of course,” Makarov said with a warm smile, doing nothing to subdue the relief that was overwhelming him and Natsu offered him a slightly more nervous smile before his eyes drifted shut almost immediately, his breathing easing out. The Guild-master let out a sigh of relief as he sank back in the seat, he just hoped that Natsu wanted to see Gray so that they could sort out what had happened and not to continue the fight.

****

That afternoon:

   Gray hesitated outside the infirmary door. He had rushed up here when Macao had come down to tell him that Natsu was awake and that he could visit him again, but now he found himself stood in front of the door he was terrified. _What if his words weren’t enough? What if Natsu couldn’t forgive him?_ He had said his apologies, practising them nearly endlessly during the hours he had spent with the Dragon-slayer both that morning and the day before, and he’d thought that he was ready. But apparently not he thought glaring at the innocuous-looking door, and he was just about to give in to his fear and turn away when it suddenly opened, and he found himself staring into Makarov’s eyes.

“Gray,” Makarov said softly, not commenting on the fact that the Ice mage was partially turned away from the door, easily guessing what had been going through the Ice mage’s mind before he had come out. Instead, he merely gestured through the partially open door as he added quietly. “He’s waiting for you.”

“I…”

“I know you’re scared,” Makarov cut across him gently, not wanting to give the Ice mage chance to get lost in his fears. “But he knows what happened. That you were the one to bring him home, and that you’ve been watching over him while he was ill. And he asked for you earlier.”

“He did?” Gray’s head shot up at that news, his eyes wide as he stared at the Guild master with more than a hint of disbelief in his expression, even though he desperately wanted to believe what the older man was saying.

“Yes.”

“W-What if I say the wrong thing?” Gray asked hesitantly, and Makarov could tell that this was the root of his hesitation although he took it as a positive sign that the Ice mage was trying to learn to control his tongue.

“You won’t,” he replied with total confidence, and Gray blinked in surprise. He’d been expecting warnings and threats to mind his tongue, to make sure that he didn’t do something to make the situation worse, not this calm acceptance and absolute faith that Makarov was showing him. “Just have faith in yourself and in Natsu. Now go on,” he encouraged as he stepped aside and there was a hint of sternness in his expression, and Gray found himself automatically obeying and he shot the older man a grateful glance as he stepped inside.

   The door clicked shut behind him, and he swallowed hard, raising dark eyes as he heard a soft cough from in front of him and he hesitated for a moment before allowing himself to meet Natsu’s gaze, surprised to find no trace of anger in the other boy’s face as their eyes met.

“Hey,” he whispered hoarsely his mouth suddenly dry as he hovered nervously in front of the infirmary door. Where was the anger? The shouting? The flaming fists?

“Hey,” Natsu’s voice was just as quiet, and he sounded slightly lost, and Gray found himself moving forward at that tone. His eyes slowly roving over the Dragon-slayer, noting that the worst of the fever had disappeared from pale cheeks and that healthy colour was beginning to seep back into his skin and the dark circles were slowly receding. “I’m all right,” Natsu muttered as he caught the worried examination, offering the Ice mage a terse smile before gesturing at the seat that Gray had spent most of the previous day in. Cautiously Gray obeyed, sinking into the chair, still half expecting the Fire mage to lash out at him but Natsu just watched him with a suspiciously placid expression.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah…I mean…I guess,” Natsu replied hesitantly suddenly finding it difficult to look at the Ice mage, the harsh words from the other day ringing in his ears and he was beginning to regret agreeing to this when a cold hand grasped his, and he jolted. Olive eyes wide as he cautiously glanced up to look at Gray, although he made no move to pull away.

“I…” Gray hesitated, he had reached out to grasp the Dragon-slayer on a whim, but now he found himself uncertain of what to say as he stared at Natsu.

“I hadn’t played in the snow before,” Natsu explained quietly, carefully looking off to the side, realising that they needed to start this conversation somewhere although that didn’t stop him flinching sharply as he caught the sharp intake of breath that met his words. “Because Igneel was always so warm, the snow never settled where we lived, and because he was reluctant to let me out of his sight, I had never got the chance to go and try to play in the snow elsewhere.” It had been one of the very few things he’d disliked about living with a fire dragon, the sight of snow covering the world beyond their den had always enchanted him, and he’d longed to be able to go and play with it. Now he felt like he never wanted to try again even if it was possible.

“So you didn’t know what your magic would do?” Gray asked quietly, feeling like he’d been kicked in the teeth by his rival’s quiet admission. It had been bad enough hearing Natsu’s feverish apologies and claims that all he’d wanted to do was play with them, but to actually learn that the idiot hadn’t known how incompatible his magic was with snow play because he’d never had the chance to try was even worse. Natsu quietly shook his head in response to the question, glaring down at his hands angrily as he felt the heat of his magic rushing through them once more although he knew that it would be a while before he tried to use up all his magic again.

“Look Natsu,” Gray began awkwardly, pausing until Natsu finally turned to look at him and finding himself swallowing hard as the olive eyes peered curiously up at him. “I’m sorry about what I said, I didn’t stop and think.” He forced out in a rush, he had never apologised to his rival before even when he had been the one to start their fights, but he knew that he was very much in the wrong here and he needed Natsu to hear those words.

“It’s all right,” Natsu replied softly, slightly startled by the unexpected apology as he’d expected their argument to be brushed aside like usual but he could see the sincerity in the dark eyes that met his, and he gave a small smile to show that he really was accepting them.

“But…” Gray began to protest, stunned that the Fire mage was so willing to offer him forgiveness so quickly after his harsh words and then what had happened afterwards and it unnerved him slightly to see Natsu being so docile. He had been fully expecting the other boy to lash out at him, most likely with flaming fists rather than insults as that had always been Natsu’s way and he found himself at a loss in the face of this unexpected reaction.

“You weren’t the only one,” Natsu whispered turning his gaze away from the other boy as he knew that his eyes would give away how much their actions had really hurt him that day. Igneel had always told him that his eyes were too open and that one day they might endanger him, he had never really worried about that though, trusting in his father and then his own magic to protect him. But now he feared everyone getting to see what he was feeling. “No one spoke against what you were saying so that meant they must have agreed with it.” _Even Lisanna_. He knew that he had upset her by destroying her hard work, but she was usually more understanding of how he was than anyone else, and if he was truthful it was her silence that had hurt more than anything.

   Gray blinked as he heard the undertone of hurt and loss in Natsu’s voice, realising for the first time what the other’s silence had meant to Natsu, and he frowned in worry. While the others had been worried about the Dragon-slayer, especially when he hadn’t bounced back as quickly as they were expecting him to, he knew that for the most part, they believed that Natsu had overreacted to what had happened. Although admittedly they didn’t know that Natsu hadn’t played in the snow before. And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they didn’t realise just how large a role they had played in this, laying the blame primarily on him, and not realising that the Fire mage might blame them just as much.

“We were all idiots,” he said softly, knowing that was really too mild a tone for what they had done and yet he didn’t want to add fresh fuel to the fire, instead adding quietly. “I’m sure that the others want to apologise as well.” _And if they don’t,_ he added darkly to himself. He had been willing to shoulder the blame, knowing that he had hurt Natsu the most, but if the Fire mage didn’t see it that way, then he would make sure that they all realised the part they had played in hurting him.

“I was too…”

"What do you mean?” Gray asked, frowning in confusion at the quiet admission and watching anxiously as Natsu’s hands twisted in the covers that were bunched in his lap. Why on earth was Natsu trying to shoulder some of the blame here?

"If I had just told you guys why I was wary about playing in the snow, none of this would have happened,” Natsu muttered, waiting for Gray to agree or to laugh at him for his stupidity and he was surprised when nothing happened. Cautiously raising his eyes to meet Gray’s once more, and he was surprised by the pained expression that had appeared on the Ice mage’s face.

“Maybe…” Gray murmured finally, not liking the surprise on the Dragon-slayer’s face. Just how was he expecting the Ice mage to respond to that statement? “But it doesn’t change the fact that we responded in the wrong way.”

“But…”

“Natsu,” Gray cut across before he could get his protest properly started, and Natsu subsided although it looked as though he was bracing himself for harsh words and he closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that he was responsible for that kind of reaction. “It wasn’t your fault…any of this. So stop trying to blame yourself.” _Idiotic Flamebrain, how can you forgive me and then try and blame yourself?_

   It was clear that Natsu didn’t quite know how to respond to that, and Gray wasn’t sure what to say to truly get through to the Dragon-slayer, and the pair lapsed into silence. However, there was an ease to the silence that they could never have achieved just a few days ago and they were quite content to sit there, hands still linked together as they let the peace seep into them slowly beginning to drive out the pain and stress of the last few days.

****

The next morning:

   Gray sat on the steps leading up to the Guildhall, a scowl firmly in place as he glowered at the snow covering every inch of the ground in front of him. Idly he scooped up the nearest handful into a compact snowball, which he began to toss idly up and down as Natsu’s words rang through his mind once more. He couldn’t even contemplate a childhood that didn’t involve playing in the snow, even though his childhood had involved little else what with growing up in the north and his eyes narrowed as he glanced up towards the infirmary window. It was so easy to forget sometimes that Natsu had been raised in a completely different environment to the rest of them.

“I should have remembered that,” he muttered still angry at himself for not having realised the source of Natsu’s reluctance to play in the snow, and then for lashing out even though deep down he had known that Natsu would never have done something like that on purpose. “I should…” He trailed off as an idea sparked at the back of his mind, and he caught the snowball he had been tossing into the air, his fingers digging into it as he stared at it.

   Natsu couldn’t play in the snow as he was now, and there was no way he was going to risk the Dragon-slayer trying to use up his magic again, not that he could given that he was still confined to the infirmary. If the fire mage couldn’t change…maybe Gray could change the snow…just enough to let him achieve the dream of playing in the snow with them, even if it was only for a few minutes. Maybe that would be enough to put a proper smile back on Natsu’s face. His expression had grown brighter since their talk, although he had seemed a little strained after having some of the others visit him and Gray was curious to know what had happened. But, for now, he wanted to focus on what he could do to help the other boy.

   Still, there was no way he was going to be able to test this on his own, and he scowled for a moment, the snowball shattering under the force of his grip before his eyes lit up brightly. Abandoning the remnants, he clambered to his feet and dashed inside, apologising as he nearly knocked Wakaba off his feet as he darted through the door, dark eyes rapidly scanning the Guildhall for familiar purple hair.

“Macao!” Gray cried as he spotted his target, paying no attention to the curious glances following him or Cana’s frantic shout for him to put his clothes on. “Macao…” He repeated as he reached the Fire mage who had risen at the first shout, reaching out to steady Gray when he skidded to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” Macao asked with concern when the Ice mage straightened, hoping that nothing else had happened between the kids and he was taken aback when Gray peered up at him with shining eyes and a determination that had been missing from his gaze for the past few days. “Gray?”

“I need your help,” Gray explained almost bouncing on the spot, and he couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his lips as he added with a mixture of hope and excitement. “I’ve had an idea that could help Natsu.”

“What is it?” Macao asked curiously.

“Not here,” Gray muttered glancing around, not wanting everyone to hear his idea in case it turned out to be something completely idiotic, turning pleading eyes towards Macao as he asked softly. “Will you come outside with me?” Macao didn’t hesitate, unable to resist the pleading eyes he was getting, besides if it was something that would help to mend the friendship between Natsu and Gray there was no way he wasn’t going to help.

“All right.”

**

An hour later:

“Try this one,” Gray said with grim determination as he held out yet another snowball for the older mage to take, and with a slight grumble despite the amusement in his eyes Macao reached out and grasped it, his eyes narrowing as he detected the spark of ice magic within the snow. Under Gray’s eager eyes he summoned up a small flame to dance over his skin, and they watched as for a long moment nothing seemed to happen before the snowball began to melt under the force of his magic.

“It lasted slightly longer,” Macao said encouragingly, and Gray nodded even as he narrowed his eyes in concentration as he began to work on another snowball. “You’re really determined about this aren’t you?” He asked, surprised by the dedication the Ice Mage was showing and wondering what the real motivation behind his efforts was. He knew that Gray had said that it was something that would help the Dragon-slayer, but this seemed to go beyond a mere desire to help.

“I want Natsu to be able to play in the snow with us!” Gray said, the tips of his ears turning slightly pink as he voiced his motivation, waiting for the other mage to laugh at him but instead Macao hummed thoughtfully before smiling at the determined boy.

“All right then,” He said cheerfully rolling up the sleeves of his coat and crouching back down beside Gray. “Let’s see what we can do,” he said holding his hand out in invitation, and Gray blinked in shock for a moment before a broad smile spread across his face, and he nodded before bringing his hands together as ice filled the air around them once more.

_I will make this work…_

****

Three days later:

   Natsu sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed, dangling his legs idly as he glowered down at his arm resting in its pristine cast. He was banned from going on missions until it was healed, and because they were all worried about his ability to care for himself with the injured arm he had been asked to remain in the infirmary until the cast could be removed. Unfortunately, that meant that he was trapped in what had to be one of the most boring rooms in the guild, with only Gray’s visits really to break up the monotony, and the Ice mage had been oddly distracted the last few days.

   Bored he got to his feet and wandered across to the window, glancing out with a baleful expression at the snow still covering most of Magnolia, wishing yet again that he had never agreed to go out with the others the day it first fell. If only he had stayed indoors none of this would have happened and he could be out on a job or happily hanging around with the others. His expression darkened as his thoughts turned to the others, they had all been up to visit him, and while they had all apologised to him, he still felt awkward around them. It didn’t help that he was reasonably sure that Gray had been the one to push them into apologising.

   He knew that he would forgive them eventually and that all of this would be forgotten. He didn’t like holding grudges, and it made him uneasy being at odds with his friends and family, but for now, he wasn’t ready. Gray was a different matter. There had been nothing but sincerity in his apology, and his actions in coming to rescue him and then looking after him after had been more enough to convince the Dragon-slayer, and at the moment he found himself feeling closer to the Ice mage than any of the others. Which was an odd experience, to say the least. Still, he had caught the contented expression on Makarov’s face when he had walked in on them the day before, chatting away about past jobs, and it warmed him to know that Gramps was happy.

   Still, none of that changed the fact that right now he was on his own, and bored out of his brain with no idea when Gray was planning on showing up. Part of him was tempted to try and sneak out again and find out what the Ice mage was doing, but he had been caught the last couple of times, and with his arm in its current state he couldn’t make a more daring escape attempt through the window. Sighing in defeat, he was about to flop back on the bed, figuring he could try napping to pass the time when the door to the infirmary burst open, and Gray dashed inside with a bright smile on his face.

"Natsu!”

“What is it?” Natsu couldn’t quite keep the grumpiness out of his voice as he turned to look at the Ice mage, although his expression had lit up at the sight of the other boy, sensing that his boredom was about to come to an end. That didn’t mean that he had to make it easy for the other boy though, especially not after being left to entertain himself for the past few hours.

“We’re going outside!” Gray said loudly as he headed straight for Natsu, seemingly paying no mind to the grumpy tone he had been met with, but he didn’t miss the small flinch that had gone through the Dragon-slayer at the mention of going outside. “Natsu…”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to leave the infirmary,” Natsu muttered in an attempt to cover up his uneasiness at the idea of going outside. He knew that it was a stupid fear, but he didn’t want to do anything that would shatter the odd friendship that had spring up between them, and it wasn’t like anything had changed. He was still overflowing with fire magic, so any attempt to play outside was just going to end the same way that it had the last time.

“Gramps gave us permission,” Gray said eagerly, deciding not to tackle the issue of Natsu’s uncertainty just yet as he knew that the Fire mage learnt better by being shown than told, something they had all learned while watching Erza pound his letters into his head…“Come on Flamebrain,” Gray insisted as he grabbed Natsu’s uninjured hand and pulled him up, ignoring the half-hearted protests escaping the other boy as he tugged him towards the door. Realising that Gray wasn’t going to give up on whatever his latest idea was, Natsu finally gave up, instead focusing on the fact that he was finally getting out of the infirmary.

**

   Natsu had let the Ice mage drag him out of the guild, barely paying any attention to the greetings that were shouted in his direction on the way and he found himself taking a deep breath as they dashed outside. Something eased in his chest as the freedom of being outside registered, he hated being cooped up inside, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had stayed indoors for as long as he had the past few days. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing around warily, the pretty coating of snow on the ground not as enchanting as it had been before and he shifted slightly as they came to a halt, turning to look at Gray who still hadn’t explained what was going on.

“What are we doing out here?” He demanded not bothering to keep the impatience out of his voice, his eyes narrowed so that the Ice mage couldn’t try and weasel out of answering.

“Here try this,” Gray said eagerly and before Natsu could ask any more questions the Ice Mage had stuffed a snowball into his hand. The Dragon-Slayer winced expecting it to disappear immediately, but after a few seconds, his eyes widened as he realised that while it had shrunk in size, it had yet to disappear completely.

“What...?” He asked in utter confusion as he raised his eyes to look at the other boy who was watching him with a broad grin and more than a little satisfaction in his dark eyes.

“A Natsu-proof snowball,” Gray declared proudly, and there was a hint of smugness entered his expression as he watched Natsu gape wordlessly at him before gazing back down at the snowball in his hand. It was still shrinking fairly rapidly, but compared to the other day it was a vast improvement. “It won’t last forever of course, but you should be able to join in for a little while at least.” He added, not wanting the other boy to get too disappointed when the snowball eventually disappeared.

“How?” Natsu asked, still unable to pull his gaze away from the shrinking snowball, unable to believe that he was able to hold a fragile snowball in his hand while his magic was at full strength.

“It’s imbued with my Ice Magic,” Gray explained patiently, amused by Natsu’s fascination with the snowball and glad that he hadn’t listened to Mira who had teased him about his efforts being pointless when she realised what he was trying to do. The others hadn’t looked overly convinced either, but they hadn’t outright ridiculed him for it. “I got Macao to test them out. Of course, I figured they’d last longer with him than you because he's not a walking furnace, but they should last long enough. There’s a whole pile there for you,” he added before gesturing to the pile he had made before running up to fetch Natsu, knowing that once he shook off his surprise, the Dragonslayer would get into the spirit of things.

“You did this just for me?” Natsu asked finally drawing his attention away from the snowball only to gape at him in surprise, although they’d had something of a truce since Gray had rescued him, he never thought that the Ice Mage would spend time on something like this just for him and suddenly the past few days of distraction made perfect sense. It must’ve taken some amount of work to perfect this.

“Who else would it be for?” Gray demanded with a laugh, feeling slightly embarrassed by the awe he could see in the other’s eyes, and he could feel warmth starting to flood his cheeks. However, the heat disappeared a moment later as the remnants of the snowball slammed into his face and for a moment all he could do was sputter.

“Oi,” Gray bellowed indignantly even as he wiped snow off his face with a big grin, he turned to glare at Natsu who was smiling brightly at him as he danced out of reach, olive eyes alight with fire that had been missing since the day of the argument. “Oh bring it on Flamebrain!” He taunted as he scooped up another handful of snow, rapidly shaping it into a ball and tossing it at the Dragon-slayer who nimbly dodged aside with a laugh before diving towards his own pile of snowballs.

“You’re going down Ice Princess!”


	3. Bonus Chapter

   Lucy shivered as she darted up the steps to the guild, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck as she paused to glance up at the rapidly darkening sky with a worried frown. It had been threatening to snow all day, and it looked as though it was finally deciding to get on with it and she shivered again at the thought of it before opening the door and slipping inside. At once she was engulfed with a wave of warm air, and she automatically looked around in search of Natsu knowing that the Dragon-slayer must be contributing to the warmth and hoping that his presence would be able to drive out the chill still lingering in her bones.

   Sure enough there he was sitting at their usual table with Gray and the others, but the tables around them that were usually avoided in case of the Fire mage starting a fight were full of mages, all of whom had clearly gravitated towards his heat. She giggled as she caught the disgruntled expression on his face that told her that he was fully aware of what they were doing, beginning to remove her scarf and gloves as she headed in his direction, idly musing that he should probably start charging them all for using his heat at the moment. Perhaps she would suggest it when he was in a better mood, as it would mean he would have more food money and would stop raiding her fridge quite as often. As if that would work, she thought with amusement, well aware that he had come to pester her more than once even when he had plenty of Jewels and food at home. Not that she could really bring herself to mind.

“Can I have a hot chocolate please!” She called to Mira as the Take-over mage bustled past humming happily under her breath, her usual tray of alcoholic drinks replaced with steaming mugs of cocoa, and Lucy sniffed the air appreciatively knowing from experience that Mira’s cocoa wasn’t to be missed. It was one of the few good things about this sudden cold weather. One of the very few good things she amended as another shiver went through her despite the warmth of the room, and she began to regret taking off her gloves as she plunged her hands into her pockets. How Gray could actually enjoy weather like this was completely beyond her.

“Of course!” Mira replied cheerfully, and the Celestial mage offered her a warm smile of thanks before speeding up as she headed for Natsu, focused on getting warmed up.

“Hey Lucy,” Natsu grinned brightly at her as she finally reached them, all traces of irritation disappearing from his expression as he shifted aside to make room for her, ignoring Gray’s irritated grumble with the ease of long practice as he bumped into the Ice mage with slightly more force than was necessary. Gratefully Lucy slid into the space he’d made, sharing a long-suffering look with Wendy as the Dragon-slayer began to bicker with Gray who’d just dumped a load of ice cubes into Natsu’s cocoa. Shaking her head at their immaturity, she started to remove her coat, finally feeling warm enough to shed it now that she was so close to Natsu’s burning heat.

“You look really cold,” Wendy commented sympathetically as she took Lucy’s red cheeks and reddened nose, although it was clear that the older girl was already starting to warm up again. They had both been caught unawares by the sudden cold snap, and they’d been forced to spend the previous day shopping for winter gear as both of their wardrobes had been dominated by summer wear. It had been a fun trip, especially as the boys had begged off since they had no need to wrap up for the cold and so they’d been able to spend as long as they wanted in the shops and stopped for lunch in a small café. Although her purse was now woefully empty which meant that she would need to work soon. She just hoped that she would be able to hold off until the weather improved somewhat.

“It’s getting colder out there,” Lucy replied as she glanced towards the window with a small shudder, she had very nearly decided not to come into the guild today as it had been so cold. But looking at the gathering clouds she was glad she had made an effort, it was definitely a better idea to get snowed in at the guild rather than at home on her own, especially as her heating seemed ill-equipped to deal with the current temperatures. “I think it’s going to snow soon,” she added with a sigh. While she had got better at dealing with snow due to their regular jobs in the mountainous areas, it still remained her least favourite type of weather, although she tried to avoid mentioning that around Gray as the Ice mage tended to get a little bit defensive about it.

   Beside her Natsu had perked up immediately at her words, completely forgetting his argument with Gray as he sat up straight, glancing hopefully towards the window for a long moment before nearly sending her flying as he shot up off the bench, heading across to peer outside as Happy let out an exasperated sigh.

“You had to mention snow,” Gray grumbled softly, but there was no sign of the usual irritation he had when complaining about Natsu, and instead there was a fond smile playing on his lips as he watched Mira scolding a sheepish looking Natsu for nearly bowling her over in his haste to reach the window. The Dragon-slayer apologies before heading on his way, winding up almost plastered against the window as he peered outside, a childishly hopeful expression on his face and Wendy tilted her head in confusion as she studied him for a moment before turning back to the Ice mage.

“Snow?”

“Shouldn’t I have mentioned it?” Lucy asked in confusion, unable to remember Natsu acting like this around snow on any of their jobs…although they had been working then, whereas at the moment they had nothing more on their plates than staying warm, although she wasn’t convinced that was explanation enough for his excitement. On the others side of the table Erza finally glanced up from the slice of cake she was carefully demolishing, a soft smile on her lips as she glanced towards Natsu before turning back to the confused Celestial mage.

“Natsu really loves it when it snows in Magnolia,” she explained softly, exchanging a glance with Gray. Neither of them had ever been able to forget what had happened when they were younger, and they had both been overwhelmingly relieved by the fact that the Dragon-slayer had never clung onto the bad bits, instead focusing purely on the fun.

“He’s just a big kid,” Gray grumbled as he watched Natsu who was shifting from one side of the window to another, as though hoping the slightly different view would offer him a glimpse of snow, and Lucy quirked an eyebrow at him as she caught the fondness in his voice. “As soon as it starts to settle he’ll want to be out there playing in it,” he added with a put-upon sigh, and across the table, Erza laughed softly at his actions.

“As though you’d ever try and stop him.”

“Erza,” Gray protested, a hint of colour entering his cheeks as he looked away from her knowing look and Lucy glanced between them, still no closer to really understanding what was going on. It made sense in a way for her best friend to be so excited by snow, after all, he really was a kid at heart, but it seemed as though there was something more to what they were saying.

“Aye, and he’s never going to settle now unless it does snow,” Happy added wearily, pointing to where the Dragon-slayer was now moving from window to window, paying no mind to the people that were calling out for him to settle down or get out of the way.

“Oh,” Lucy muttered, wincing as Kinana was forced to dodge out of Natsu’s path, the idiot completely oblivious to the fact that he had nearly made her drop the tray of drinks she was carrying. Shaking her head as she turned her attention back to Gray and Erza, determined to try and get a proper answer out of the pair of them as she didn’t like the feeling that she didn’t understand something about Natsu. “But, why is he so fixated on it? I mean I know he’s a childish idiot, but…”

“There was an incident when we were kids…” Gray muttered as he glanced down, his hands clenching against the table. While his and Natsu’s friendship had changed completely since back then, he still felt uncomfortable thinking back to that time, and even after all this time, he didn’t feel as though he’d deserved the forgiveness that the Dragon-slayer had so easily given him for his part in the sorry affair. Well aware that making some snowballs wasn’t enough to make up for the harsh words he’d said to the Fire Mage. Seeing that he was becoming overwhelmed Erza quietly cleared her throat, drawing Lucy and Wendy’s attention before continuing the story, although she couldn’t keep the guilt out of her voice as she spoke.

“We didn’t know that Natsu had never played in the snow before, and we got mad at him when he accidentally melted the snowman that Lisanna was building, not realising that he couldn’t control his magic enough at that point…”

“What happened?” Lucy asked softly.

“Natsu took off into the hills,” Gray whispered as he found his voice once more, his expression strained as he lifted his head to search out Natsu, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t close enough to hear as he didn’t want to drag up bad memories when he was so excited about the prospect of snow. Thankfully the Fire mage was still by the windows, although it was clear that his excitement was dimming somewhat as it became clear that he was going to have to wait a while longer for snow, and Gray felt his lips twitch slightly before he turned back to look at Lucy. “The idiot planned to try and burn through his magic so that he could play in the snow with us, but instead, he ended up badly injured with complete magical exhaustion, and he nearly died from hypothermia.”

“Gray was the one that found him and brought him home, and when he finally woke up he explained about his magic and that he hadn’t played in the snow before,” Erza took over once more. Giving the Ice mage a chance to regain control over his emotions, well aware that he had never forgotten how close they’d come to losing the Dragon-slayer back then. “It was after that, that Gray learnt how to make snowballs that could resist Natsu’s natural heat long enough for him to play in the snow, and Natsu has never looked back.”

“But he doesn’t melt the snow now…” Wendy said with a confused frown, recalling how Natsu had, had to deliberately call up some flames to melt a path for them the last time they had been up in the mountains for a job.

“No,” Erza replied with a smile, and there was a hint of pride in her voice as she explained softly. “He’s learnt to manipulate his own temperature so that he doesn’t melt the snow. Although he still insists on using Gray’s snowballs whenever it snows here.” She shot Gray a teasing smile as she said that, well aware that the protests he spouted whenever Natsu demanded that he play in the snow with him were all for show and that he would probably never be able to deny the Dragon-slayer anything when it came to snow.

“He’s just an idiot,” Gray muttered glancing off to the side with a scowl, colour spreading across his cheeks as he realised that the others were watching him with amusement as well, and he spluttered when Lucy giggled at him before teasing him gently.

“That’s so sweet…”

**

   Natsu had eventually drifted back to join them, looking somewhat despondent and they had carefully guided the conversation back onto other topics, moving onto silly memories from their jobs in an attempt to cheer him up. However, it was clear that his focus was elsewhere and Lucy was really beginning to regret predicting that it was going to snow, hating to see that expression on his face even though she’d had no idea that he was going to react like this. She also really wanted to see what he was like when it snowed now, and to see how Gray was going to act. As she had a feeling that in his own way the Ice mage was just as excited as her idiotic best-friend, and from the look on Wendy’s face the younger girl also wanted to see what they were going to do.

  It was nearly an hour later that Lucy noticed that the sky outside had darkened even more, and she frowned, wanting to go and check what the weather was doing but not wanting to risk getting Natsu overexcited again. Thankfully the problem was solved a few minutes later when the doors slammed open, and an excited Romeo burst inside with a massive grin on his face.

“It’s snowing!” Romeo cried out excitedly, and they could all see the white dusting his parka although it disappeared rapidly as he dashed towards them, the warmth of the Guildhall too much for it to endure. Natsu’s head had shot up at his abrupt arrival, but the moment the words were out of the boy’s mouth he was up and moving towards the door with bright eyes, only to find himself being jerked to a halt after a couple of steps and he glanced down to find that Erza had grabbed him.

“Natsu you have to wait for it to settle,” Erza scolded as she held onto the Dragon-slayer, tightening her grip when he struggled to worm free, amused that snow was enough to make him actually risk her anger for once. Not that she would be able to scold him when he had such a childishly excited expression on his face, and she glanced briefly across at Gray who was shaking his head at the Fire mage’s antics.

“But…” Natsu protested as he glanced towards the door, it had been ages since it had snowed in Magnolia, and he wanted to make the most of it. Especially as they didn’t have anything else on at the moment, so he didn’t need to focus on anything but having fun.

“It looks pretty heavy so you probably won’t have to wait for long,” Mira had moved to join them, taking pity on the Dragon-slayer and she was rewarded by his face brightening even as he finally stopped fighting against Erza, allowing her to pull him back down onto the bench. Erza silently mouthing ‘thanks’ to the Take-over mage who waved it off with a smile, shooting a knowing look at Gray before bustling away to resume her work.

“Natsu-nii are you going to play in the snow later?” Romeo asked brightly as he stopped by the edge of the table, he didn’t understand the Fire mage’s obsession with snow, but it worked out for him as it meant that he always had someone to play with.

“Yeah!” Natsu replied with a bright grin, and with a happy laugh the smaller boy ran off to beg Mira for a hot chocolate so that he could warm up while they waited for the snow to settle. Lucy and Erza sharing fond looks, as they knew how close the pair were, although the latter didn’t miss the slightly jealous expression that flashed across Gray’s face. Well aware that the Ice Mage was protective over the times he played in the snow with Natsu.

“Perhaps we’ll all have a snowball fight for old times’ sake,” she commented softly, glancing across at Lucy and Wendy who both nodded eagerly and if possible Natsu’s excitement seemed to increase tenfold, and he reached out eagerly to nudge Gray earning himself a half-hearted glare.

“Watch it Flamebrain!”

“We’re going to play in the snow!” Natsu replied blithely, seemingly unconcerned by the annoyance in the Ice mage’s voice, although a hint of uncertainty entered his voice as he asked softly. “You’re going to come right?”

“Maybe,” Gray muttered, and to Lucy’s surprise, the Fire mage didn’t seem in the least bit fazed by the lukewarm response, despite what the others had said about his obsession with using the snowballs that Gray made. Instead, there was a happy expression as he settled back in his seat to wait, seemingly a lot more patient that he had been earlier and she shook her head, wondering if she would ever truly understand him.

**

   Natsu managed to last nearly half an hour before he slipped away, avoiding Erza’s attempts to hold him in place this time and darting across to the window, and the entire guild heard the triumphant whoop that the Fire mage released at whatever view met his eyes.

“Gray!” Natsu shouted as he darted back to join them, practically bouncing as he reached them, a broad grin on his face and his eyes brighter than before.

“What do you want Flamebrain!” Gray asked carelessly, but the others could see the gleam in his eyes as he took another sip of his drink and the hint of a smile playing around his lips. Natsu clearly didn’t see them though as his expression fell for a moment and he shifted uneasily, glancing between the door and the Ice mage, and Lucy had to fight the urge to giggle at their antics, especially as Erza had already lost the fight and turned away to try and hide her grin.

“Grrraaayyyy!” Natsu whined as he finally turned back to focus properly on the Ice mage, and with a put-upon sigh Gray set aside his drink and raised his head to study the Fire mage, swallowing hard as he found himself faced with Natsu’s pleading gaze. If he’d had any intention of actually refusing to go and play in the snow, he would have screwed as there was no way he could resist eyes like that. “Gray?” Natsu asked, sounding hopeful as he caught the softening in the dark eyes and Gray finally lost his battle, smiling up at the idiot before rising his feet and shaking his head fondly. In all honesty, he hoped this part of the Dragon-slayer never changed.

“Fine…” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he found his hand seized, and with a startled cry, he was tugged in the direction of the door by the over-enthusiastic Fire mage. A quick glance at the others showed that he wasn’t going to get any help from that quarter, as the three girls were rolling around in their seats laughing at his plight, and he barely had enough time to shoot them a dark glare before he was pulled out of the guild.

**

   It was nearly ten minutes later that the girls with Romeo in tow made their way outside, all of them wrapped up tightly against the cold, although Lucy had started shivering the moment they had stepped outside the door. The Exceeds had steadfastly refused to go out in the cold again, although they had promised to have hot drinks ready for them when they finally made it back inside. The world outside had been transformed, a thick layer of snow covering everything, with more falling from the sky by the moment.

“It’s so pretty,” Wendy whispered as she stared around with wide eyes, and Lucy had to agree with her, even though she would have preferred it being a little bit warmer. However, their appreciation of the scenery was interrupted a moment later when they found themselves being attacked with a barrage of snowballs, and yelping Lucy and Wendy dived for cover behind Erza who was looking around with a somewhat dangerous expression on her face. Romeo had been knocked to the ground, but he had a bright grin on his face as he frantically began to scoop up snow.

   A warm laugh gave their attackers away, and they glanced up as the onslaught ended to see Gray and Natsu approaching, both of them grinning like idiots as they tossed snowballs from one hand to the other, although they froze as they caught the expression on Erza’s face.

“Um…”

“This is war!” She declared softly, her dangerous expression morphing into a smile that was terrifying in its own way and they exchanged alarmed looks before nodding in agreement.

“Romeo you’re with us!” Gray shouted, and the younger boy paused in his efforts before nodding and scrambling to his feet before tearing across to join him. “You’re going down!” The Ice mage added as he glanced back at Erza, allowing his magic to spark around his hands, waiting until her eyes narrowed in comprehension before seizing hold of Natsu and Romeo and dragging them away to prepare. Well aware that the Requip mage always went for broke even in games like this.

   Leaving Natsu as watch out as they trusted his senses to pick up on any sneak attacks, Gray and Romeo set about making a large stockpile of snowballs. Although the Ice mage was careful to create a separate pile of the ice-reinforced snowballs for Natsu, even though the Dragon-slayer might have to resort to making his own if Erza got as carried away as she had last time. Every now and then he could feel the Fire mage’s eyes on him, and he would look up and offer him a warm, reassuring smile, well aware of how precious this was for Natsu. Of course, it was during one of those times when they were both somewhat distracted that the girl’s launched their attack, and the three of them were forced to scramble for cover as Wendy dropped on them from above, inadvertently bolting into the open and finding themselves under attack from a waiting Lucy and Erza.

“Gray!” Natsu shouted around a mouthful of snow, glowering at a giggling Lucy and wondering when she had become such a good shot, barely managing to dart aside as Erza’s attention shifted to him as well. However, the flash of Ice magic told him that Gray had got the message, and a pair of shrieks told him that Gray and Romeo had launched a counterattack of their own. Ignoring the snowball that hit his shoulder he changed course, following the Ice mage’s scent, yelping in alarm as he dragged down behind what appeared to be a hastily erected snow barrier only to find his team grinning at him.

“I think we underestimated them,” Gray muttered grumpily.

“Yeah, Lucy is a better shot than I expected,” Natsu grumbled as he rubbed at his face before his face broke out in a grin. He was well aware that it was foolish for him to still be so obsessed at playing in the snow, and it meant a lot that the others seemed so happy to indulge him, especially the Ice mage who was currently returning his grin.

“But Natsu-nii and Gray-nii will win, right?” Romeo interrupted them a moment later with a hopeful expression, and the teens shared a brief look, before glancing back at him with matching grins, and Natsu’s voice was warm as he added softly.

“Only with your help.”

“With Erza on their team, it might just come down to brute strength,” Gray pointed out with a sigh, and Natsu winced, well aware of just how difficult it could be to get the drop on Erza at the best of times let alone when she was feeling competitive. “We should probably focus on the other two to start off, and then gang up at her at the end.”

“Oh really?” They both paled as her voice rang out from behind them, before scrambling to try and cover Romeo as snowballs rained down on them once more, only this time they had no way of escape. Gray had begun to think they were going to be defeated before they even got the chance to retaliate, but a moment later the air around them heated up rapidly diffusing the onslaught but surprisingly leaving the snow beneath and behind them untouched. And he smirked as he glanced across at Natsu and caught the determination in the Dragon-slayer’s face. Nodding, he brought his hands together, letting his magic seep out into the snow around them.

“Really!” He shouted back, blue light filling the air around them, and it had barely cleared before the three of them were scrabbling for the snowballs he had made. There were no organisation to their attack, just sheer stubbornness and a determination not to be outdone by the girls, and they charged with a roar, flinging their snowballs as fast as they could and causing Erza and the others to scatter underneath the frenzied attack. The thing that made him smile the most though was the happy grin on Natsu’s face, that never faltered once, even when he took repeated snowballs to the face.

**

   Their snowball fight lasted for nearly an hour in total, and in the end, it was mutually decided to call a truce, although Erza had looked somewhat reluctant to accept that. However, one look at a shivering Wendy and Lucy soon convinced her that it was time to head back, and she privately had to admit that she was looking for to a hot drink and changing into some dry clothes as the snow had got everywhere. Still it had been worth it she thought as she glanced across at a cheerful Natsu who was chatting away with Gray and Romeo, re-enacting part of their fight if the wild hand gestures were anything to go by and she shook her head fondly, unable to believe that they had got to this point from that fiasco years ago.

   Lucy couldn’t keep the bright smile of her face, even as she tried to burrow further into her coat. There hadn’t been many opportunities to enjoy snow when she was younger, and there had been no one around for her to play with. She might even come to share Natsu’s enthusiasm if this was going to become a tradition, and her smile grew as she glanced across at her best friend. Eyes widening as she caught him scooping up snow and making a new snowball, looking up he winked at her and she held her tongue, hoping that she wasn’t the intended target. However, a moment later his attention shifted to Gray who’d moved ahead to talk to Wendy, and she had to bite back a giggle as she realised that the Ice mage was the target, watching as Natsu took careful aim and flung the snowball.

“Oi!” Gray bellowed indignantly, wiping the snow off his face as he whirled around to glare at Natsu who was smiling brightly at him even as he danced out of reach. There was no sign of weariness in the happy face, and Gray didn’t have the heart to try and drag him back inside just yet. “Oh bring it on Flamebrain!” He taunted, waving for the others to go inside before reaching down and scooping up another handful of snow, rapidly shaping it into a ball and tossing it at the Dragon-slayer, unsurprised when Natsu nimbly dodged out of the way with a laugh and familiar threat.

“You’re going down Ice Princess!”


End file.
